Mpeda for tie-ups with Japanese importers

Move aimed at boosting share of value-added marine products

In order to augment the share of India's value-added marine exports, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda) is exploring the possibility of the country's seafood exporters tying up with some Japanese importers for the processing and export of value-added products.

"At present, of the total marine exports from the country, value-added products account for only 10-15 per cent. If we can increase the value-added products' share to 25-30 per cent, the country's foreign exchange earnings would be increased by another Rs 300 crore," K Hari Babu, vice-chairman of Mpeda, told Business Standard.

"India exported close to Rs 5,900 crore worth of marine products last fiscal. At present, Indian exporters export the value-added products to the US and the European Union markets only. Japan has been importing the Indian shrimp in block-frozen form. Later, Japan started using the Indian block-frozen shrimp as a raw material for making value-added products and is exporting them to a third country," he said.

Babu said that small countries like Thailand and Vietnam have been exporting more value-added products, when compared to India.

"There is a lot of potential to increase the share of value-added products up to 40 to 50 per cent from the country. For this, we need to invest anywhere between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 1.8 crore to set up individual quick freezing (IQF) and cooked range machinery at each processing plant. For this, Mpeda is encouraging Indian exporters tying up with Japanese importers," he said.

"Mpeda is also planning to go in for tie-up arrangements. As Japanese importers do not accept consignments that are less than a container load, an Indian exporter, very often, is not in a position to process a full container load of value-added products within the stipulated time of the supply order. This affects the growth potential of Indian exports to the Japanese market. Therefore, in such cases, Mpeda is for two or three exporters joining hands to process different types of value-added products and exporting them within the stipulated time," Babu said.

"Unless the government extends its support, it is not possible to increase the value-added products' share from the country's marine exports basket," T Raghunadha Reddy, secretary general, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), told Business Standard.

"Actually, there are no 'real' value-added exports from the country. This is because we are exporting only cooked and partially value-added products, that too in meagre quantities. We need cooking ingredients, which are not available in the country, to produce quality value-added products. Therefore, we should import these ingredients from China or Thailand. The Indian government is currently imposing about 37 per cent import duty on these products. Due to this constraint, our exporters are not able to compete with other nations exporting value-added products to the global market. If the government extends support, our real value-added products' exports will increase significantly," he said.

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Strategic move

• India's forex earnings to increase by Rs 300 crore if value-added products' share is increased to 25-30%
• Mpeda also plans to go in for tie-up arrangements
• Asks exporters to join hands to process different types of value-added products and export them