About Rs 30,000 crore worth of schemes announced in the Atmanirbhar Bharat package will rely on 40 per cent share from states. These schemes — Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and Scheme for Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (FME) — were approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The PMMSY, which is aimed at bringing about a Blue Revolution through “sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India”, has a total estimated investment of Rs 20,050 crore. Out of this, Rs 9,407 crore will come as central share, Rs 4,880 crore as states’ share and Rs 5,763 crore as beneficiaries’ share. Read| Have increased MGNREGA allocation, will spend over Rs 1 lakh cr this fiscal': Agri Minister The PMMSY has two components — Central Sector Scheme (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). The statement shows that under the CSS component, the funding pattern for the Northeastern and Himalayan states will be 90% central share and 10% state share; for other states it will be 60% central share and 40% state share; and for Union territories (with and without legislature) it will be 100% central share. However, under CS component of PMMSY, “the entire project/unit cost will be borne by the Central government (i.e. 100% central funding)”. “Wherever direct beneficiary oriented i.e. individual/group activities are undertaken by the entities of central government including National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), the central assistance will be up to 40% of the unit/project cost for General category and 60% for SC/ST/Women category,” it said. “The Scheme will be implemented during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25,” it added. It will help in “doubling of fishers, fish farmers and fish workers incomes by 2024”. The PMMSY was announced in the third tranche of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week. However, PMMSY first figured during the 2019-20 Budget, presented on July 5 last year. In her speech at that time, Sitharaman had said, “Through (the) scheme, the Department of Fisheries will establish a robust fisheries management framework. This will address critical gaps in the value chain, including infrastructure, modernisation, traceability, production, productivity, post-harvest management and quality control.” Another scheme announced in the Atmanirbhar Bharat package — Scheme for Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (FME)—was also approved by the Cabinet. The FME will have an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore and funding pattern of 60:40. This means that the Centre will share 60 per cent of the expenditure and the balance 40 per cent will be borne by states. FME is a new scheme, and will be implemented over a five-year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
