India’s seafood exports to cross $6 billion in 2017-18.

Visakhapatnam: India’s seafood exports are expected to cross $6 billion in 2017-18, up $300 million from $5.7 billion in the previous year, according to Ch Kishore Kumar, vice-chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

Talking to TOI at the ongoing CII Partnership Summit on Monday, he said more than 70 per cent marine exports would be in the form of shrimp. Of this, more than two-thirds of the exports were from Andhra Pradesh, which has emerged as the state with the largest acreage for the cultivation of shrimp.

Kishore described the increased exports this financial year as good, though he attributed the depreciation of Indian rupee as one of the key reasons behind the rising exports. MPEDA is tasked with the regulation and development of the seafood export industry.

While Kishore spoke of the seafood export industry posting revenues of $6 billion, Elias Sait, secretary general of Seafood Exporters Association of India, speaking at a panel discussion at the ongoing CII Partnership Summit here, said the exports are expected to cross $6.5 billion.

Kishore said the demand for Indian shrimp, particularly of the vannamei variety, has been consistently on the rise because of increasing demand from Japan. However, he said the export of fish in the form of sashimi, a Japanese delicacy in which fresh fish is eaten raw, has collapsed. This was because of increasing demand from consumers in India for the fish that is sold as sashimi in Japan, he said.