NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday launched India’s first-ever open-sea marine fish farming project in the Andaman Sea.
The launch took place at North Bay, Sri Vijaya Puram, during Dr Singh’s field visit to the open waters of the Andaman Sea.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Jitendra Singh said the initiative represents one of the earliest and most significant efforts to unlock the economic potential of India’s oceans.
He observed that India’s marine resources, much like its Himalayan and mainland assets, possess immense and diverse economic potential that remained largely overlooked for decades.
He noted that for nearly seventy years after Independence, India’s ocean resources were largely underexplored. Since 2014, however, there has been a fundamental shift in national thinking, with growing recognition that the maritime domain holds wealth and opportunities equal to those of the land.
He also highlighted the distinctive and heterogeneous nature of India’s oceans, pointing out that the western, southern and eastern seaboards each have unique characteristics and contributions to offer towards national development.
The project is being implemented through a collaborative effort involving the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, its technical arm the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), and the Union Territory Administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The pilot project focuses on the open-sea cultivation of marine finfish and seaweed under natural ocean conditions, combining scientific innovation with livelihood generation.
During the field visit, two major livelihood-oriented interventions were launched.
Under the marine flora component, seaweed seeds were handed over to local fishing communities to encourage deep-water seaweed cultivation in the open sea. Under the marine fauna component, finfish seeds were provided for cage-based farming, using NIOT-developed open-sea cages specifically designed to operate in natural oceanic environments.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that while the current initiatives are being undertaken through government-led collaboration, the experience gained and feasibility assessments could pave the way for scaling up through public–private partnership models in the future.
Such an approach, he noted, would help accelerate deployment, expand livelihood opportunities and strengthen India’s Blue Economy ecosystem.
As part of his visit to the Andaman Islands, the Minister also visited the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park near Wandoor, one of the country’s earliest marine parks, established in 1983.
Spread across 15 islands and accessed via the Wandoor Jetty, the park is known for its protected islands such as Jolly Buoy and Red Skin.
Dr Singh observed the park’s rich and self-sustaining marine ecosystem, including coral reefs, mangroves, turtles and a wide diversity of fish species.
The launch at North Bay underscores the Government of India’s commitment to taking science and technology directly to the field, ensuring that coastal and island communities become active partners in India’s ocean-led economic growth.