India’s federal budget for 2026–27 set out a set of targeted initiatives for the fisheries sector aimed at raising farmer incomes through infrastructure development and better market linkages, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech to parliament on Saturday.
Presenting the proposals, Finance Minister Sitharaman placed fisheries within the government’s third “kartavya” — ensuring that every family, community, region and sector has access to resources, amenities and opportunities for meaningful participation in economic growth.
Under the fisheries package, the finance minister said the government would undertake initiatives for the integrated development of 500 reservoirs and Amrit Sarovars. The speech did not specify the size of investment, timelines or the geographic distribution of these water bodies, but framed the initiative as part of efforts to expand productive assets for rural livelihoods.
Finance Minister Sitharaman also proposed measures to strengthen the fisheries value chain in coastal areas. According to the budget speech, this would include efforts to improve processing, storage, and distribution systems that connect fish producers to end markets.
To support market access, the budget proposed enabling better market linkages involving start-ups and women-led groups together with Fish Farmers Producer Organisations (FFPOs). The finance minister said the approach was intended to integrate organised producer groups with emerging enterprises in the fisheries ecosystem.
The fisheries proposals were presented as part of a broader set of measures aimed at increasing farmer incomes through productivity enhancement and entrepreneurship, with special attention to small and marginal farmers. These measures were grouped alongside initiatives for animal husbandry and high-value agriculture in the budget.
Finance Minister Sitharaman did not announce any sector-specific fiscal deficit targets, revenue figures, or taxation changes related to fisheries. No dedicated borrowing plans or separate capital expenditure allocations for fisheries were mentioned in the speech.
The fisheries initiatives were linked in the budget to the government’s broader rural development agenda, which also includes programmes for coconut, cashew, cocoa, sandalwood and horticulture crops in coastal and hilly regions.
The finance minister also announced the launch of Bharat-VISTAAR, a multilingual AI tool to integrate AgriStack portals and ICAR agricultural practices with artificial intelligence systems, though the speech did not specify any fisheries-specific applications of this platform.
Finance Minister Sitharaman said the fisheries measures, along with other agriculture-related proposals, form part of the government’s strategy to diversify rural incomes, strengthen producer organisations and expand opportunities for women and youth in the rural economy.