New Delhi: India is accelerating its bet on seaweed as a cornerstone of the Blue Economy, with the Centre setting a production target of 1.12 million tonnes by 2030 under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and rolling out a clutch of investments, breeding centres and capacity additions across the coastline. The update was shared in Parliament by the Ministry of Earth Sciences on Thursday.
At the heart of the push is a ₹194.09-crore outlay for sectoral infrastructure, including a Multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu and a Seaweed Brood Bank in Daman and Diu, alongside approvals for 46,095 seaweed rafts and 65,330 monoline tube nets to expand cultivation capacity. The Centre is also encouraging collaboration between small and large enterprises to strengthen processing and export value chains.
On the ground, the government is positioning the Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a hub for the Blue Economy. CSIR’s Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) has completed prefeasibility studies across 25 locations and established commercial operations at Hathi Tapu, Mayabunder and Diglipur, using species such as Gracilaria edulis and Kappaphycus alvarezii. In parallel, the National Institute of Ocean Technology has launched the first open-sea marine fish farming and seaweed cultivation project in the Andaman Sea, with a focus on deep-water cultivation.
The social footprint is expanding as well. Under CSIR’s Seaweed Mission, over 800 self-help groups in Tamil Nadu have adopted Kappaphycus cultivation, while around 5,000 fishers have been trained across Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Technologies have been transferred to 12 companies for commercialisation, signalling early industry uptake. The Department of Fisheries is channelling support via SHGs, JLGs and FPOs, with guidelines on seed import and culture protocols to ensure quality, biosecurity and market linkages—particularly for women-led groups.
To shore up research and seed supply, CMFRI’s Mandapam centre has been named the Centre of Excellence and nodal institute for a Nucleus Breeding Centre under PMMSY—an initiative expected to benefit over 20,000 farmers and generate more than 5,000 jobs.
Over the past five years, CMFRI has installed 5,268 demonstration rafts and conducted 169 training programmes for 14,000+ stakeholders.
With regulated import guidelines issued in 2024 and a pipeline of infrastructure and capacity additions, policymakers are betting that seaweed can become a remunerative, eco-friendly and scalable coastal livelihood—while feeding into India’s broader Blue Economy ambitions.