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Stress on the fisheries sector in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will give a fillip to the coastal fisheries, said D. Vedavyasa Kamath, MLA, Mangaluru City South, on Saturday.

The budget proposes to hike fish production to 200 lakh tonnes by 2022-23. The government hopes to raise fisheries exports to ₹1 lakh crore by 2024-25. The Minister said that the government would involve youth in fisheries extension through 3,477 Sagar Mitras and 500 fish farmer producer organisations. In addition to this, growing of algae, seaweed and cage culture will also be promoted.

With all this, Mr. Kamath said, youngsters in coastal areas will benefit through fish processing and marketing. He also said the Union government had also proposed to put in place a framework for development, management and conservation of marine fisheries resources. The MLA said the budget was presented according to the aspirations of the people and reflected economic growth and social concern. “It has given special stress on agricultural development and promotion of education,” he said.

Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP and State BJP president, called it a visionary and inclusive budget that puts stress on the growth of all sectors.

Meanwhile, Harish Kumar, president of the Dakshina Kannada unit of Congress, said it was an anti-farmer budget as it paves the way for the corporate sector to purchase farmland easily. The budget has not proposed any visionary projects and it will hit the middle class hard, he said.

B. Ramanath Rai, former Minister, said the budget had nothing on creation of jobs and revival of the economy. The announcement that LIC will be listed as part of the government’s disinvestment initiative will further destabilise the economy, he said.