Introduction
The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) was launched in September 2020 with an aim to double the income of fish farmers and fishers in the country. It focuses on sustainable development of India’s fisheries sector and is a part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme.
The scheme adopted a “cluster or area-based approach” to create fisheries clusters. The scheme focuses on activities with potential to generate employment such as seaweed and ornamental fish cultivation. It also emphasises on the breeding technique for quality brood, seed & feed, and species diversification.
With implementation of the scheme, the government aims to help reduce post-harvest loss from 20–25% to 10%, double the incomes of fishers and fish farmers and generate an additional 55 lakhs direct and indirect employment opportunities.
In line with this, key targets of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana are as follows:
- Increasing fish production from 13.75 million metric tonnes in FY19 to 22 million metric tonnes by FY25.
- Improving aquaculture productivity from three tonnes per hectare to five tonnes per hectare.
- Enhancing domestic fish consumption from 5 kg to 12 kg per capita.
- Increasing contribution of the fisheries sector to the Agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA) from 7.28% in FY19 to about 9% by FY25.
- Doubling export revenue from Rs. 46,589 crore (US$ 6.37 billion) in FY19 to Rs. 1,00,000 crore (US$ 13.68 billion) by FY25.
- Reducing post-harvest losses to about 10%.
- Creating 55 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities across the value chain.
Need for PM Matsya Sampada Yojana
Fisheries and aquaculture play an important role in food, nutrition, employment, and income in India. The sector employs ~16 million fish farmers and fishers at the primary level and almost twice the number along the value chain. The fisheries sector accounted for 1.09% of the national GVA and 6.72% of agriculture GVA in FY23. As per the department of fisheries, marine fishing resources are estimated at 4.41 million tonnes and its activities extend along 8,118 kms of the country’s coastline. To improve fish production, it was important to conduct integrated fish farming and diversify fish production in areas such as old water, river, and brackish water fishery.
To facilitate an enabling environment for comprehensive development of the full potential of the country’s fisheries, the government introduced the ‘Blue Revolution’ for a period of five years (FY16 to FY20). The ‘Blue Revolution’ helped enhance local fish production from 10.26 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY15 to 13.75 MMT in FY19. Fish productivity increased from 2.3 tonnes per hectare in FY15 to 3.3 tonnes per hectare in FY19.
Further, the fisheries sector has been a major contributor to foreign exchange earnings, with India being one of the world's leading seafood exporters. In FY24, marine products export earnings stood at US$ 7.38 billion, frozen shrimp continued to be the major item of export. In FY23, aquaculture products accounted for 63% of the country's total fishery exports.
Further development of the country’s fishery sector presents a great opportunity for fish farmers to generate more income, increase fish production and enhance exports and thereby, drive the country's economic growth.
In line with this, recognizing the huge potential in this sector, the Indian government launched the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in September 2020 with an approved funding outlay of Rs. 20,050 crore (US$ 2.74 billion) for a period initially covering FY21 to FY25. In 2025, the scheme was extended up to FY26, continuing its goal of holistic fisheries sector development, value addition, infrastructure modernization, and fishers' welfare.
Key Initiatives and Progress
The PM Matsya Sampada Yojana includes key activities such as fishing vessel insurance, support for new/upgrade of fishing vessels, aquaculture in saline/alkaline areas, Sagar Mitras, nucleus breeding centres, fisheries and aquaculture start-ups, incubators, and integrated aqua parks.
Implementation Strategy
The PMMSY has the Central Sector and Centrally sponsored Scheme Components and hence, is being implemented as an umbrella scheme. The scheme is expected to intervene at almost all key components of the fisheries value chain to focus on all-round development of the fisheries sector.
To effectively implement the scheme and get optimal outcome, the implementation is done in collaboration with the states/union territories. While financing of the scheme differs by component and areas, the central government bears the whole cost in some key areas of national importance.
While improving fish production is the key objective of PMMSY, it is imperative to achieve quality, sustainability, standards, and traceability in the fisheries sector. The scheme encourages private participation and development of entrepreneurial culture in the fisheries sector to achieve its end-objectives.
The scheme will also look for suitable linkages and convergence with various centre and state government schemes. A few of the identified schemes for linkages are “Sagarmala Project” of the Ministry of Shipping, PMKSY of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, MGNREGS and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission of the Department of Rural Development, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and other schemes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Funding Plan
PMMSY will be implemented with the following funding plan:
- Central Sector Scheme - The entire scheme cost will be borne by the central government Also, in cases of direct beneficiary-oriented activities undertaken by central government entities such as the NFDB, central assistance will be up to 40% of the project cost for the general category and 60% for the SC/ST/women category.
- Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) - In case of CSS components and subcomponents implemented by the states/UTs, the entire project cost will be shared between the centre and state.
|
|
Total |
Centre Share |
State Share |
Beneficiary Share |
|
(A) Central Sector Scheme |
Rs. 1,720 crore |
Rs. 1,720 crore (US$ 235.24 million) |
- |
- |
|
(B) Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) |
Rs. 18,330 crore |
Rs. 7,687 crore |
Rs. 4,880 crore |
Rs. 5,763 crore |
|
|
Rs. 11,990 crore |
Rs. 3,878 crore (US$ 530.38 million) |
Rs. 2,349 crore |
|
|
|
Rs. 6,340 crore |
Rs. 3,809 crore |
Rs. 2,531 crore |
|
|
Total (A)+(B) |
Rs. 20,050 crore |
Rs. 9,407 crore |
Rs. 4,880 crore |
Rs. 5,763 crore |
Key Developments
- A new mobile app introduced under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana enables aquafarmers to swiftly report fish diseases and receive timely scientific advice. Launched on June 28, 2023, the "Report Fish Disease" app connects farmers, field officers, and fish health experts, facilitating prompt disease management on farms.
- The first review meeting on June 21, 2023, focused on fisheries development in NER, receiving special attention from Niti Ayog and the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region. PMMSY allocated Rs. 958.26 crore (US$ 115.1 million) for NER projects (FY21 to FY23), achieving 72% of total investment and 68.39% of the central share. Notably, Northeastern Region (NER) states had not received specific allocations before 2014, with sanctioned activities including various fishery projects.
- In March 2021, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University became the first Indian university to receive fishery project funds under the PMMSY worth Rs. 139.05 lakh (US$ 190,400) to promote low-density intensive aquaculture technologies in the region through integrated modules for research, demonstration, and skills development, such as the circulating aquaculture system (RAS) and Biofloc aquaculture.
- As part of other developments in the Indian fisheries sector, in April 2021, Manipur’s State Fisheries Minister Mr. S. Rajen Singh, announced that fish farms maintained by the state government will be leased to interested fish farmers in a public-private partnership (PPP) model to provide employment and income opportunity in the state.
- In FY20, institutes such as the Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical & Engineering Training (CIFNET) expanded its mission to train fishermen from the coastal states and union territories through a capacity building training programme under the PMMSY.
PM Matsya Sampada Yojana – the Progress So Far
Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced Rs. 35,440 crore (US$ 3.99 billion) for new agricultural initiatives, with Rs. 5,450 crore (US$ 614 million) specifically allocated to fisheries, livestock, and food processing projects. Beneficiaries under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana shared success stories of transforming from job seekers to job creators, highlighting robust economic improvements among fishers.
As of July 2025, the government has approved fisheries development projects totaling over Rs. 21,274 crore (US$ 2.40 billion) under PMMSY and released substantial central grants to stakeholders. The scheme has played a transformative role, yielding record fish production, expanding employment opportunities, formalizing the fisheries sector, and enabling digital access to scheme benefits through a national portal.
During the last five years (FY21 to FY25), the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has accorded approvals to the fisheries developmental proposals of various state Governments including Andhra Pradesh, Union Territories and other implementation agencies amounting to Rs. 20,990.79 crore (US$ 299.86 million) with central share of Rs. 8,924.33 crore (US$ 127.49 million) under the PMMSY. This includes the proposals of the Government of Andhra Pradesh approved at a total cost of Rs. 2,398.72 crore (US$ 34.26 million) with Central share of Rs. 559.10 crore (US$ 7.98 million) under PMMSY for development of fisheries and aquaculture including fisheries infrastructure and welfare of fishermen in the State.
The key interventions and value chain projects/activities taken up under this scheme include; 58 fishing harbours/fish landing centres, 634 ice plants/cold storages, 21 Modern wholesale fish markets including two Smart Wholesale Markets, 202 retail fish markets, 6,694 fish kiosks, 27,189 units of fish transportation facilities, 128 value add enterprises, 5 E-platform for e-trading and e-marketing of fish and fisheries products.
The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has allocated Rs. 3,363.09 crore (US$ 404.1 million) from FY21 to FY24 for fisheries and aquaculture development under PMMSY across various states, Union Territories (UTs), and implementation agencies. Project proposals with a total outlay of Rs. 2,309.08 crore (US$ 315.80 million) have already been approved.
The Government of Maharashtra has stated that 3,351 individuals are directly employed under PMMSY, with approximately 1,04,790 engaged indirectly in fishing and related activities. Moreover, the scheme has generated around 45.59 lakh employment opportunities, including 11.46 lakh direct and 34.13 lakh indirect jobs.
The government proposed mega investments to strengthen fishing ports and landing centres for healthy fish management and reduction of post-harvest erosion, high cost, etc. The government allocated funds worth Rs. 7,700 crore (~ US$ 1.05 billion) on fisheries infrastructure such as deep-sea vessels and for building an integrated laboratory network for diagnostic and quality testing.
The Road Ahead
The government is taking significant measures to make the PMMSY scheme a success. During the presentation of the Interim Budget 2024-25, Union Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled plans to establish five integrated aquaparks, emphasizing the government's commitment to the fisheries sector. She outlined the intensified implementation of PMMSY to increase aquaculture productivity, double seafood exports to reach Rs. 1 lakh crore (US$ 12.02 billion) and create 55 lakh employment opportunities in the near term.
Under the PMMSY, the government has helped develop a Fish Brood Bank and an Aquatic Disease Referral Laboratory in select states (e.g. Bihar) to boost fish production and quality by ensuring proper availability of high-quality, low-cost fish seed for fish farmers as well as addressing the need for disease detection and water & soil testing.
The government is also focusing on adopting technologies such as the IoT to integrate with the PMMSY to better facilitate development of the fisheries sector as well as its auxiliary industries and help bring fishermen into the mainstream industry—making them economically stable and secure.
