Bhubaneswar, May 11 (IANS) The Odisha government has earned Rs.4,794.72 crore from sea food exports in the last three years, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Pradeep Maharathy said on Wednesday.
Replying to a written question of BJD legislator Raseswari Panigrahi, he told the assembly that a total of 76,941 tonnes of shrimp and 12,497 tonnes of other marine products were exported in the last three years.
A total of Rs.4,794.72 crore in foreign currency was earned in this period.
He said Rs.908.47 crore of marine food was exported in 2012-13. This went up to Rs.1,817.07 crore in 2013-14 and Rs.2,069.17 in 2014-15.
The minister said the Odisha government had set a target to step up seafood exports to Rs.10,000 crore by 2020.
He said farmers were being advised to adopt best management practices to enhance shrimp cultivation.
According to official sources, Odisha produced 4.67 lakh tonnes of fish in 2014-15, an increase of 13 per cent over the previous year.
