Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a major relief package for the state’s aquaculture sector during a high-level review meeting on agriculture and allied sectors held at his camp office on Tuesday. Taking a progressive step toward fostering a sustainable ‘Blue Economy’, the Chief Minister directed officials to extend the existing electricity subsidy benefits to newly registered aqua connections across the state.
Under this new directive, the ongoing power subsidy of ₹1.50 per unit will now be applicable to 12,680 newly registered aqua connections as well. The state government already incurs an annual subsidy burden of ₹1,100 crores for 50,000 existing aqua connections. This latest decision will add an additional financial burden of ₹188 crores to the state exchequer. Furthermore, CM Naidu set a strategic goal to bring the entire 4 lakh acres of active aquaculture land under designated ‘Aqua Zones’.
To systematically modernise the sector, the Chief Minister emphasized the immediate setup of quality certification and traceability systems for seafood exports. Additionally, to uplift the livelihoods of coastal fishermen, the government approved ₹240 crores for the procurement of 200 state-of-the-art mechanized boats. The Chief Minister also instructed officials to set up modern Rythu Bazars across 90 assembly constituencies and widely promote the ‘Digi Rythu Bazar’ mobile application. The high-profile review meeting was attended by Agriculture Minister K. Atchannaidu, Chief Secretary Sai Prasad, and other senior department officials.
