A first-of-its kind, dedicated business incubator to nurture fisheries start-ups under real market conditions will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala in Gurugram, Haryana on November 16, 2021 in the presence of Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr L Murugan. The incubator costs Rs 3.23 crore
“The proposed LINAC- NCDC Fisheries Business Incubation Centre (LlFlC) aims to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives among entrepreneurs providing them handholding to move towards atma nirbharta.
“More such Centres will be formed soon across the country as envisaged under the central flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) launched last year with an aim to bring about Blue Revolution, as envisioned by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India,” Rupala said about the innovative initiative being kicked off from the LINAC premises in Gurugram.
Dr Murugan added that India was working to emerge as a prominent place in the world fisheries map by nurturing innovation, entrepreneurship and invention in the sector. “I am very pleased about the setting up of this incubation center to accelerate innovation and start-ups.”
Sundeep Nayak, MD, NCDC said that “this unique initiative shall primarily focus on converting entrepreneurial ideas into business models and then support the launch of business operations. LIFIC shall also handhold the enterprises while negotiating a myriad of market dynamics with the aim of resulting in sustainable revenue generation and business operations in the sector.”
To begin with, the NCDC has identified the first batch of ten incubates for LIFIC from four states. Out of them, 6 are from newly created Fish Farmers Producer Organizations with the support of the financial giant under PMMSY.
The incubatees are selected based on their keen entrepreneurial interest shown in fishery business. “In fact, the fisheries incubation centers (FICs) under the PMMSY allow for relevant incubation support to young professionals/entrepreneurs, cooperatives/federations, progressive fish farmers, fisheries based industries and other entities, for the purpose to showcase and commercialize their innovations and innovative ideas”, said Jatindra Swain, Union Fisheries Secretary.
“This laudable step can help in creating new businesses and employment opportunities in fisheries to boost the income of locals,” said Dr KR Salin, Director of NEDAC Bangkok who has specially travelled to Delhi to attend the LIFIC inaugural. Drawing upon his international expertise he said that these services should help incubate formulation of business plans, turn their business plan into a reality, manage their day-to-day business operations and grow their business. LIFIC has attracted active interest from FAO Rome whose CAFI-SSF experts would also take part in the event.
One critical input, credit linkage, is assured to the successful incubatees who can avail financial assistance from NCDC.
Realizing the fisheries sector as an important sector not only because of its significance in the food production but also because of its value in export earning and the economic development of the country, the Modi Government had launched more than Rs 20,000 crore PMMSY scheme last year. It is also instrumental in providing sources of livelihood for a large section of the economically backward and resource poor population of the country.
The event will also be live streamed on NCDC Sahakar CoopTube Channel and on NCDC Facebook Live, said an official from NCDC.