The Blue Revolution: Aquaculture to Augment Farmers' Income

Placing India's experience in the global context, the report shows that China remains the dominant producer of fisheries, accounting for 39.7 per cent of global production in the triennium ending (TE) 2023, followed by Indonesia (10.1 per cent) and India (7.1 per cent). India's fisheries production reached 19.5 MMT in FY 2025 comparable to China’s production levels in the early 1990s, highlighting both progress and untapped potential (FAO, 2025, latest data available). Over the past two decades, inland fisheries production in India has increased more than four-fold, from 3.21 MMT in 2002–03 to 14.7 MMT in 2024–25. India ranks third in total fisheries production but second in inland aquaculture, after China. Despite ranking second globally in inland aquaculture, India accounts for only about 15 per cent of global production, compared to China's dominant 56 per cent share in value, indicating a significant gap in productivity and scale. Frozen shrimp has emerged as the single most important driver of India’s fisheries exports, while aquaculture growth remains spatially concentrated—particularly in Andhra Pradesh, which contributes 34 per cent of inland fisheries production and 44 per cent of national fisheries GVA in 2023–24. The uneven regional spread of aquaculture raises the policy challenge of replicating this cluster model across other states.