Port Blair, Aug 06: During the weekly meeting of Fisheries Department held under Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Mr. keshav Chandra, IAS, in the Conference Hall of Secretariat yesterday, a presentation was made by Managing Director, Sagarmala Development Company Ltd (A Govt of India enterprise), Mr. Dilip Kumar Gupta, on the proposed model for financing of Deep Sea Fishing Vessels through Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Model.
The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration remarked that since the SVP Model is on a cluster based approach, the Islands’ fishermen co-operative societies and groups of active fishermen must come forward to avail the benefit considering vast resource availability in our EEZ and no financial burden or collateral in acquiring the vessel. The Chief Secretary directed the Fisheries Department, cooperative Department as well as the fisher representatives and fish traders to propagate the scheme among the fisher community all across the Island for larger coverage. Senior officers of Administration, fisher representatives and few interested entrepreneurs participated in the discussion.
In his presentation Mr. Dilip Kumar Gupta informed that the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Govt. of India and Sagarmala Development Company Ltd are working together to introduce Deep Sea Fishing vessels in the country through the SPV model. Under ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana’, a fisherman is required to provide his contribution of 60%-40% for Procurement of Deep-Sea Fishing Vessels (DSFV). He also informed that the cost of a modern DSFV is roughly around Rs.2.0 crore which includes fisherman’s contribution of about Rs. 1.2 crores. However, a fisherman neither has cash of Rs. 1.2 crore nor he gets a loan of this amount from the bank at competitive rate because of several reasons. Hence the benefits of the scheme for Vessels have not reached a large section of the fishermen community yet.
To begin with, he informed that it will be a pilot project with initial Project cost of Rs. 100 crores for funding of 50 fishing vessels. 40% will be a cash subsidy from Central and State Governments. Balance 60% will be from SPV wherein the equity will be shared equally between SDCL and SPV partner. Fishermen need not pay a single penny in the beginning. It is also proposed that SPV will take loans from Commercial banks to reduce the burden of equity from SPV partners. The vessels will be provided only to eligible fishermen. The price of catch shall be ascertained through a price discovery mechanism through competitive bidding. The contract will be awarded to the highest bidder i.e. H1 bidder. The Processing Plant Owner will be selected for a long term period of 5 years and would have to submit a BG of Rs. 5-6 crores. In case, the Processing Plant Owner fails in his commitment to pay to fishermen as per the agreed schedule, the BG would be encased and payment shall be made to fishermen. Price variation of the catch being paid to fishermen will be reviewed half-yearly and will be linked to some index like WPI in consultation with the Department of Fisheries, Processing plant owners and Fishermen Association. The Processing Plant Owner(s) shall own, operate and maintain Mother Vessels (can be financed through SPV for 5 years) that would shuttle and collect the fresh catch within 24 hours from fishermen while they are still at deep sea. Two Mother vessels may be deployed to service a cluster of 25 baby vessels for replenishment of supplies, facilitating crew exchange etc. The capacity of the baby vessel will be around 15-20 tonnes with reefer storage of around 5 tones and that of the Mother vessel will be around 150-200 tonnes.
SPV will arrange for vessel maintenance, vessel insurance and training to fishermen on catch handling and vessel operations through third party. The monthly lease charges payable by fishermen will include Vessel Cost, Comprehensive Maintenance cost and Comprehensive Insurance cost and Training cost.SPV will provide initial operational expense (upto Rs. 8 lakhs) covering bunker fuel, lube oil and supplies for the first voyage. This will be adjusted in the monthly lease charges and the impact will be marginal. The proposed vessel will also be equipped with reefer container, slurry pass tank, dampening arrangement in the reefer container, solar equipped for efficient energy use and Hygienic & comfortable beds for fisherman.
He also interacted with the stakeholders and explained how this model will enhance employment generation in the islands, uplift the standard of living of the fisherman, increase the export earning, maritime security and overall coastal community development.
Earlier an interaction was also held with fisher representatives, fish traders and local entrepreneurs by the Managing Director, SDCL, in the presence of Mr. G Sudhakar, IAS, Secretary (Fisheries) on 04/08/23 to get their feedback and suggestions for implementation of the scheme in the islands.
