Nirmala Sitharaman Press Conference Live: Finance Minister Announces Third Set Of Economic Package

The Finance Minister announced an Rs 20,000 crore for fishermen through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana which was announced in the Union Budget 2020.

The scheme will be aimed at fixing critical gaps in the fisheries value chain.

Of the total amount, Rs 11,000 crore will go for activities in marine, inland fisheries and aquaculture. The remaining Rs 9,000 crore will be for infrastructure like fishin harbours, cold chains and markets.

The key activities covered under the scheme will be cage culture, seaweed farming, ornamental fisheries along with procuring new fishing vessels, improving traceability and building a laboratory network.

This will lead to additional fish production of 70 lakh tonne over five years, Sitharaman said. It will also provide employment to over 55 lakh people, she said, adding that exports in the sector will double to Rs 1 lakh crore.

The focus will be on islands, himalayan states, north east India and aspirational districts.

The government has announced a scheme worth Rs 10,000 crore aimed at the formalisation of micro food enterprises.

The scheme will be launched to help almost 2 lakh micro food enterprises undertake technical upgradation, meet good food standards, build brands and market their produce.

Existing enterprises and farmer producer organisations will also be supported under the scheme.

The scheme will have a cluster-based approach. For instance, mangoes in Uttar Pradesh, bamboo shoots in North eastern states and chilli in Andhra Pradesh.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced setting up a Rs 1 lakh crore fund for enhancing agricultural infrastructure in the country.

The facility will provide financing for funding agri-infrastructure projects at farm-gate and aggregation points, which include primary Agri cooperative societies, farmer producer organisations, agriculture entrepreneurs and startups, among others. Farm gates include facilities like cold chains and storage.

The fund will be created immediately and provide impetus for developing an affordable and financially viable post-harvest management infrastructure, Sitharaman said.

• During the lockdown period, purchases of over Rs 74,300 crore based on the minimum support prices have taken place.
• PM KISAN fund transfer of Rs 18,700 crore.
• Claim payment of Rs 6,400 crore cleared under PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
• Over 560 lakh litre of milk per day procured by cooperatives as the demand of milk had fallen.
• Over 111 crore litres were procured extra ensuring payments of Rs 4,100 crore.

The finance minister said that eleven measures for the agriculture sector are being announced. Of these, eight will revolve around the strengthening of infrastructure, capacity and building logistics for the agri sector.