Integrated Aqua Park Project: ₹100 Crore Sanctioned for Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir.

Key facts

• Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh announced sanction of a ₹100-crore Integrated Aqua Park Project to be established in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The announcement was made during the first national conference on Cold Water Fisheries held in Srinagar.
• The Integrated Aqua Park will strengthen aquaculture infrastructure, boost cold-water fisheries development, increase fish production and create employment opportunities in the region.
• Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and other dignitaries jointly released the Model Guidelines for Reservoir Fisheries and Aquaculture Management during the conference.
• The guidelines cover scientific seed stocking, cage- and pen-based aquaculture, leasing and governance mechanisms, biodiversity conservation, value chain linkages and monitoring systems.
• Rajiv Ranjan Singh emphasised scaling up trout production and strengthening incomes of cold-water fish farmers by enhancing productivity, improving value addition and tapping export markets.
• The Union Minister urged organising fish farmers through cooperatives and Fish Farmers Producer Organisations (FFPOs) and encouraged states and Union Territories to support farmers in accessing schemes, infrastructure and credit.
• The ₹100-crore Aqua Park sanctioned for Anantnag and funding under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) will enable local enterprises to scale up operations.
• Minister of State SP Singh Baghel highlighted the potential of India’s cold-water fisheries sector and stated that sustained government investments, including the ₹100-crore Aqua Park in Jammu and Kashmir, will serve as hubs for innovation, training, processing and aggregation.