Lok Sabha Question No. 3985 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-25
Subject: Loan for Fishermen
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Dr. Rajeev Bharadwaj

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRYAND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3985 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH   MARCH, 2025

## Loan for Fishermen

## †3985. DR. RAJEEV BHARADWAJ:

Will the Minister of FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is providing any loans to fishermen under any scheme of the Ministry;
- (b) whether there is any provision for any insurance scheme for the fishermen; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI GEORGE KURIAN)

(a) to  (c): 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 interalia 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.

*****