Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala and Minister of Ports Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone on Sunday for the project on Modernisation and Upgradation of Cochin Fishing Harbour at Thoppumpady, Willingdon Island, Cochin Port Authority, Cochin. Speaking at the occasion, the minister said, the government has approved projects to the tune of more than Rs 7,500 crores for the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), Sagarmala and Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) schemes.
The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Govt. of India in March 2022 sanctioned the proposal of Cochin Port Trust for Modernisation and upgradation of Cochin Fishing Harbour at Thoppumpady at a total cost of Rs.169.17 crores with Central financial assistance of Rs.100 crore under PMMSY in a convergence with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways under Sagarmala.
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As part of the development of modern fishing harbours project, the modernisation and upgradation of Cochin fishing harbour will benefit 700 fishing boats operating at Cochin fishing harbour, which will support the direct livelihoods of about 10,000 fishers and the indirect livelihoods of about 30,000 fishers across the value chain. It is envisaged that the modernisation project will support substantial improvement in hygienic conditions and an increase in earnings from the export of fish and fish products.
The main activities taken up under modernisation include the establishment of air-conditioned auction halls, fish dressing unit, a packaging unit, internal roads, loading and unloading platforms, office, dormitory and food court. The project has a PPP component of Rs 55.85 crores, including components such as the establishment of cold storages, slurry and tube ice plants, multi-level car parking facility, reverse osmosis (RO) plant, food court, retail market, and other related facilities.
