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Credited with making India’s marine products a global brand that has sustained in the face of stiff competition, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has completed five decades marked by breakthroughs and improved infrastructure. It has provided considerable impetus to the seafood industry in the country’s coastal States.
Launched in 1972 as a statutory body of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, MPEDA, is all set to celebrate its Golden Jubilee, with India’s marine exports touching 1.4 million tonnes (₹57,586 crore) as against just 35,523 tonnes in the year of inception and the delectable products finding a stamp of approval from seafood gourmets from across the globe.
The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel, will kick-start the event on August 24. The function will also see the distribution of the MPEDA Export Awards and Champions trophy of MPEDA Golden Jubilee Marine Quest 2022.
MPEDA Chairman Dodda Venkata Swamy said the Golden Jubilee comes amid the body’s continued efforts to capitalise on the milestones reflected in its fundamental focus on capture fisheries, value-added products and market promotion, besides establishing a pan-India network while invigorating quality and sustainability.
“We are preparing to host the 23rd edition of the biennial India International Seafood Show (IISS). The February 2023 event at Kolkata will provide an ideal platform for interaction between Indian exporters and importers of India’s marine products,” he added.
Export development plan
MPEDA has decided to chalk out an export development plan to target export of $20 billion in the next five years. “It will require a growth rate of about 15 per cent. We need to sustain and accelerate the growth tempo to meet this target,” he pointed out.
To achieve this target, MPEDA plans to identify around 20 export markets which account for about 90 per cent of exports and assign each market to an officer, who would be tasked with gauging the export potential and monitoring the market trends. Further, other plans include publishing a monthly market update and preparing a buyers’ directory for distribution among the exporters.
States play a significant role in the implementation of various activities of MPEDA. Preparing a State-wise export development plan in consultation with States would be our priority. The organisation is exploring the option of identifying entrepreneurs to export seafood in rupees to Russia.
In order to broad-base its programmes and activities, MPEDA has set up three allied bodies like RGCA (Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture) at Sirkali in Tamil Nadu, which promotes diversified aquaculture such as seabass, mud crab and GIFT (Tilapia) and is also engaged in the revival of Black Tiger shrimp in Andaman.
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