GUNTUR: Aqua farmers in Bapatla district are rejoicing following the announcement of several new incentives for the aqua sector by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The new incentives include a reduction in tax on specific brood stock, polychaete worms, shrimp, and fish feed to 5%, along with an exemption of customs duties on various inputs used in manufacturing shrimp and fish feed. 
Additionally, the Central government has increased the budget for constructing the Integrated Aqua Park in Nizampatnam from Rs 88.08 crore to Rs 187.75 crore. An extra Rs 4 crore has also been allocated for the construction of two jetties.
Bapatla district, with its 74 km coastline, is heavily dependent on aquaculture. Areas such as Repalle, Nizampatnam, Bapatla, Karlapalem, Chirala, Vetapalem, Chinaganjam, Nagaram, and Bhattiprolu cover 21,400 acres of aquaculture. The district is home to 19 shrimp hatcheries and 17 aqua processing plants, and its aqua products, valued at Rs 2,250 crore, are exported to over 52 countries.
The import duty on Artemia feed has been fully waived, and taxes on brood stock and brood-stock feed have been reduced from 10% and 30% to 5%. As a result, the cost of shrimp feed is expected to drop by Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per kg. Currently, local aqua farmers and hatchery units import brood stock from the US and other countries, but the government plans to establish nucleus breeding centers to reduce this dependency, potentially saving farmers up to 50% of their costs.
The Centre has committed an additional Rs 60 crore for the Integrated Aqua Park project, on top of the initial Rs 88.08 crore. The new jetties will be constructed at Kripanagar in Bapatla mandal and Kottapalem in Nizampatnam mandal, providing significant benefits to local fishermen.