Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will lay foundation stone to four fishing harbours and 25 aquahubs on November 21 on the occasion of World Fisheries Day.
The Chief Minister will virtually lay foundation stone for fishing harbours in Nellore, Guntur, Krishna and East Godavari districts at a cost of Rs 1510 crores.

The State government proposes to bring up eight fishing harbours and four fish landing Centers at a cost of Rs 3000 Crore, to put the maritime wealth of the State in optimum use.

In the first phase tenders have been called for four fishing harbours at Juvvaladinne, Nizampatnam, Machilipatnam and Uppada costing around Rs 1510 Crore, aiming to complete in the next two years. The tenders will be finalized in second week of December.

Although Andhra Pradesh has the second longest coastline of about 974km in the country, the previous government neglected the maritime activity
and only established small fishing harbours.

The State government laid proposals for constructing a good number of fishing harbours and fish landing centers to benefit the 6.3 lakh fisherman population in the State who are depending on fishing and allied marine activities.

Through the new fishing harbours, it is expected that an additional 2.37 lakh tonnes of fish and prawn catch worth nearly Rs 500 crore will be added as GVA (Gross Value Addition) to the State and 85,000 direct and indirect employment would be generated. The State government will be developing these green energy harbours with modern facilities such as cold storage units, fish processing units, chill centers, boat handling, and repair facilities. It is planned to provide one or two coastal cargo berths in the fishing harbours wherever feasible to facilitate export operations.