Parliament Question: National Marine Fisheries Census

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2nd DECEMBER, 2025 National Marine Fisheries Census

250. Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth:

Will the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying be pleased to

state:

(a) whether the Government has allocated Rs.6.2 crore for Marine Fisheries Census

(MFC) 2025;

(b) whether over 1.2 million fisher households targeted across nine coastal States and four UTs have been enumerated, and if so, the details thereof and the progress, State/UT-wise;

(c) the overall fisheries sector budget for 2024-25 is Rs. 2,616.44 crore and Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) receiving approximately Rs. 2,352 crore and the proportion of fisheries sector budget for digital census operations and the details of remaining unspent and unallocated budget;

(d) whether the Government has considered infrastructure projects under PMMSY, have an outlay of Rs. 17,210.46 crore and number of approved projects directly related to coastal fishing villages surveyed under MFC 2025 and the details of disbursement status, if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and

(e) whether the Government has launched any projects worth Rs. 255 crore under PMMSY across seven coastal States and percentage of this is dedicated to census enumeration, fisher registration and alignment of benefits and which states are lagging? ANSWER MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) An allocation of Rs. 14.58 crore has been made for the Marine Fisheries Census

(MFC) 2025.

(b): Against the estimated 1.2 million fisher households across nine coastal States and four Union Territories, 3,69,119 households had been enumerated as on 27.11.2025. The State/UT-wise progress of enumeration is as follows:Sl. No. Households Sl. No. Households State/UT State/UT (Nos.) (Nos.) 1 Andhra Pradesh 70,160 7 Goa 1,060 2 Odisha 48,591 8 Maharashtra 27,918 3 Gujarat 31,139 9 Karnataka 15,626 4 Tamil Nadu 81,745 10 Daman & Diu 2,561 5 Puducherry 15,357 11 Lakshadweep 5,460 6 Kerala 65,108 12 A&N Islands 4,394 Total 3,69,119

(c): In 2024-25, an allocation of Rs. 2,616.44 crore was made to the Department of Fisheries, which was revised to Rs. 1,666.47 crore at the RE stage. Of this, Rs. 1,130.49 crore has been released, while the balance amount of Rs. 535.98 crore remains unspent.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the BE allocation of Rs. 2,352 crore was revised to Rs. 1,500 crore at the RE stage, of which Rs. 977.28 crore was released in 2024-25. Out of this released amount, Rs. 60 lakh was earmarked for MFC 2025 under the Central Sector Scheme component of PMMSY.

(d) & (e): Under PMMSY, approvals amounting to Rs. 2,375.25 crore have been accorded to States/UTs during the last five years for post-harvest infrastructure and related activities. These cover cold storages, ice plants, transport units, fish markets, kiosks, and similar facilities. In addition, 58 fishing harbours and landing centers, with a total project cost of Rs. 3,365.64 crore, have been approved for coastal States.

MFC 2025, which covers nine coastal States and four Union Territories, is a distinct activity and is not linked to the funds allocated for infrastructure projects.

However, the details of status of approved post-harvest infrastructure, Fishing Harbours and Fish landing centers in 13 Coastal States /UTs is given below: (Rs. Crores) Approved Post Approved Sl. No. States/UTs Harvest Total FHs & FLCs Infrastructure 1 Andaman and Nicobar 21.5 0.0 21.5 2 Andhra Pradesh 386.6 1442.6 1829.3 3 Daman & Diu 1.7 128.9 130.6 4 Goa 61.4 0.0 61.4 5 Gujarat 45.7 205.3 251.0 6 Karnataka 171.1 84.6 255.7 7 Kerala 153.3 507.3 660.6 8 Lakshadweep 19.8 0.0 19.8 9 Maharashtra 243.1 210.9 454.0 10 Odisha 265.5 288.8 554.3 11 Puducherry 16.1 212.4 228.5 12 Tamil Nadu 104.9 155.6 260.5 13 West Bengal 121.9 109.4 231.3 Total 1612.6 3345.7 4958.3 *****