In the year 2018-19, Government of India has extended the facility of Kisan Credit Card to fishers and fish farmers to meet their working capital requirements. Under the scheme, farmers receive KCC loans up to Rs.2.00 Lakhs (fishers & fish farmers) at a subsidized interest rate of 7%. To facilitate this, an up-front interest subvention (IS) of 1.5% is provided to financial institutions by the Govt. of India and additionally, farmers who repay their loans promptly on time, receive a 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI), effectively reducing the interest rate to 4% per annum. Besides, the collateral-free loan limit for KCC fisheries has also been enhanced  from Rs.1.60 lakh to Rs. 2.00 lakh from 01.01.2025. Moreover, in the Union Budget 2025-26, the Government of India has increased the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) lending limit of loans up to ₹5 lakh to enhance credit accessibility for fishers, farmers, processors and other fisheries stakeholders under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme. Till date, 4,63,492  KCC cards have been issued to fishers and fish farmers with a loan amount of Rs. 2982.58 crore in all States/UTs.

Besides, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, with effect from financial year 2018-19 is implementing Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) with a total fund size of Rs 7522.48 crore.  FIDF inter-alia provides concessional finance for development of various fisheries infrastructure facilities to the Eligible Entities (EEs), including State Governments/Union Territories, State entities and other Stakeholders for development of identified fisheries infrastructure facilities.  Under FIDF, the Department of Fisheries provides interest subvention up to 3% per annum for providing the concessional finance by the NLEs at the interest rate not lower than 5% per annum. A total of 141 projects with outlay of Rs.3947.54 crore have been approved under FIDF.

Further, in order to provide social security measure to fishers, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India under ongoing Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) provides Group accidental insurance coverage to fishers wherein the entire insurance premium amount is borne by the Central and State Government, with no contribution from the beneficiary. The insurance coverage provided includes (i) Rs.5,00,000/- against death or permanent total disability, (ii) Rs.2,50,000/- for permanent partial disability and (iii) hospitalization expenses in the event of accident for a sum of Rs. 25,000/. During the last three years (2021-22 to 2023-24) and current financial year (2024-25) of the implementation of the PMMSY, 131.30  lakh fishers with an average of 32.82  lakh fishers annually have been enrolled for providing insurance coverage under the Scheme.

  This information was given by Union Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri George Kurian, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 25th March, 2025.

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