Vijayawada: Minister Kollu Ravindra has said the government is trying to transform the state into a hub for the aqua sector. He was speaking at an event at Kurumaddali village under Pamarru constituency in Krishna district on Thursday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in online mode inaugurated the Syam Aqua Processing Plant there. Central minister Srinivasa Varma was also present.Ravindra said the government aimed at making AP’s fisheries sector and food processing system a model for the country. “We have nearly a thousand kilometres of coastline, based on which millions of people live. Between 2014 and 19, we earned thousands of crores in revenue by exporting seafood items to the international market,” he said.He said that it was with encouragement from central and state governments that aqua hubs came into being across the coastal regions. “We had provided unit electricity for `2. However, after Jagan Reddy came to power, he derailed the entire system. Jagan imposed additional taxes via the Seed Regulatory Act.” “Due to a similar exploitation concerning feed, farmers could not get good quality seed, and they were unable to bear the feed costs, leading them into debt. Many abandoned this system.”The minister said, “Even after facing challenges and growing aqua crops, they suffered heavy losses due to interference of syndicates at purchase time. The YSRC government finished off the fisheries system under the name ‘Fish Andhra’.” “Now, investors hesitate to come. Renowned companies like Lulu announced they would not come to AP at all.” Union Minister Srinivasa Varma promised to help develop the state’s fisheries sector by utilising the subsidies provided by the central government for the food processing sector. “At the same time, we are trying to link the food processing sector with the MSME sector.”The union minister welcomed the establishment of Syam Aqua that promised to provide employment to 2,000 people. Currently, only prawn processing is being done in AP. There is a need to set up fish processing units soon,” he said.
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