Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has expressed concern over the impact of American tariffs on the state’s shrimp exports, saying it has caused a loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the sector and led to the cancellation of up to 50 per cent export orders.
In separate letters addressed to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Fisheries Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, the Chief Minister highlighted the difficulties being faced by the southern state’s aquaculture sector and requested their support.
“The taxes imposed by America majorly hit shrimp exports. It is estimated that a loss of Rs 25,000 crore would have occurred. Up to 50 per cent export orders have been cancelled,” said Naidu in his letters to the Central Ministers, according to an official press release on Sunday night.
According to the CM, taxes to the tune of up to Rs 600 crore have been levied on exports happening through 2,000 containers.
Emphasising that Andhra Pradesh accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s shrimp exports and 34 per cent of marine exports, valued at around Rs 21,246 crore annually, he highlighted that 2.5 lakh families and 30 lakh more from allied sectors rely on the aquaculture sector.
Amidst this crisis, Naidu said his government has initiated steps to support aquaculture farmers by getting aquaculture feed manufacturers to slash prices by Rs 9 per kg and is contemplating supplying subsidised power transformers.
He also requested the Centre to rescue the aquaculture sector by taking measures to enhance domestic usage of aquaculture products, flexibility in GST, finances and others.
Further, he called for setting up a Rs 100 crore corpus fund, establishment of cold storages and hygienic fish and seafood markets while underlining that the state government is ready to set up the Andhra Pradesh Shrimp Producers Coordination Committee to facilitate direct farmer-to-market supply chains.
The CM stressed the need for awareness campaigns to promote seafood consumption, pointing out that aquaculture products are rich in protein and highly nutritious.
At present, per capita seafood consumption in India is only 12-13 kg per year, compared to the global average of 20-30 kg, he added.
To bolster transportation, Naidu requested the central government to run dedicated trains for shipping aquaculture products from South India to various parts of the country.
He sought a one-time top-up loan of Rs 1 lakh under Kisan Credit Cards for the fishing community and called for the strengthening of processing, packaging, and cold-chain facilities to boost competitiveness in new markets.
Moreover, he requested the union government to establish regional offices of key research institutions such as ICAR-CIBA and ICAR-NBFGR to be established in Andhra Pradesh.