Andhra CM lays foundation for 4 fishing harbours, 25 aquahubs

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], November 21 : On the occasion of World Fisheries Day on Saturday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually laid the foundation of four fishing harbours in Nellore, Guntur, Krishna, and East Godavari districts, along with 25 aquahubs in the state.
As per an official release, the Andhra Pradesh government proposes to bring up eight fishing harbours and four fish landing Centers at a cost of Rs 3000 Crore, to put the maritime wealth of the State in optimum use, and in the first phase, tenders have been called for 4 fishing harbours at Juvvaladinne, Nizampatnam, Machilipatnam and Uppada costing around Rs 1510 Crore, aiming to complete in the next two years.
The government said the tenders for the projects will be finalized in the second week of December.
"Andhra Pradesh has the second-longest coastline of about 974 km in the country. The State government laid proposals for constructing a good number of fishing harbours and fish landing centers to benefit the 6.3 lakh fisherman population in the State who are depending on fishing and allied marine activities," the government said further.
Through the new fishing harbours, the Andhra Pradesh government expects that an additional 2.37 lakh tonnes of fish and prawn catch worth nearly Rs 500 crore will be added as GVA (Gross Value Addition) to the state and 85,000 direct and indirect employment would be generated.
"The State government will be developing these green energy harbours with modern facilities such as cold storage units, fish processing units, chill centers, boat handling, and repair facilities. It is planned to provide one or two coastal cargo berths in the fishing harbours wherever feasible to facilitate export operations," the release added further.