The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology has said that it is getting more business enquiries for its indigenously-developed fishing boat propellers, which it claims help in saving diesel.
"The technology is being successfully adopted by two entrepreneurs in the state at present. The CIFT is getting queries from various parts of the country. More number of entrepreneurs are keen on taking up our technology," CIFT Principal Scientist Naseer told PTI.
The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), under the World Bank-funded National Agricultural Innovation Project, developed the "fuel-efficient" propellers.
At present, Kerala-based Bright Metal Company and Srimuruga Propellers are manufacturing them using CIFT's scientific technology.
The fishing industry is one of the biggest consumers of diesel and uses 200 litres annually, Naseer said. The Centre can save subsidy of Rs 140 crore on diesel a year on reduced consumption by 20 crore litres using the propellers, he added.
"I have been using the technology for the last two years. The new propeller that I am manufacturing is fuel and cost efficient. I have doubled the production as there is more demand," Bright Metal Company S Radhakrishanan said.
The company has increased the production capacity to 400 units a year now, up from 280 earlier as demand from other states has increased, he said.
Srimuruga Propellers is selling about 50 propellers a year.
The cost of scientifically designed propellers range between Rs 35,000 and Rs 1,00,000, a CIFT official said.
The cost of scientifically designed propellers is similar to the traditional ones in the market but they are more fuel-efficient, he added.
The CIFT said the fuel-efficient propellers are developed for smaller vessels that use ring-siene and dole-netter fishing methods.
Ringe Siene vessels are largely used to catch pelagic fishes in Kerala and Karnataka, while dole-netter vessels to catch 'Bombay Duck fishes' in Maharasthra and Gujarat.
The CIFT said that it wants to extend this technology to other big fishing vessels like 'purse siene' and 'trawlers' going forward and soon would be seeking funds from the Centre.
It is also planning to introduce a 'quality mark' for such propellers to ensure these are differentiated from the traditional ones, it added.
