Ministry Inaugurates Fisheries Infrastructure Projects in Bihar
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Bihar Chief Minister Shri Samrat Choudhary laid the foundation stone for an Integrated Aqua Park at Vanasaur Fish Seed Farm, Bhojpur, and inaugurated the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) Regional Centre at Patna on June 15, 2026. The Integrated Aqua Park, approved under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) at a total cost of ₹31.21 crore, will function as a state-of-the-art integrated aquaculture complex comprising carp and striped catfish hatcheries, brooder incubation facilities, biofloc tanks, Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) units, fish feed manufacturing facilities, water quality and disease diagnostic laboratories, quarantine facilities, and a 50-bed residential training hostel.
The newly inaugurated NFDB Regional Centre at Patna will serve as the institutional nerve centre for Bihar and neighbouring eastern states, providing technical expertise, scheme convergence, capacity building, digital outreach, and field-level implementation support. The Centre will promote modern aquaculture systems including biofloc, RAS, cage culture and precision aquaculture while providing continuous technical handholding to fishers, cooperatives and entrepreneurs.
Significant Fisheries Growth in Bihar
Union Minister Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh noted that Bihar's fish production has grown from 3.18 lakh tonnes in 2005 to over 10.2 lakh tonnes in 2025, reflecting the transformative impact of sustained investments in inland fisheries. Chief Minister Shri Samrat Choudhary highlighted that Bihar possesses immense untapped potential in inland fisheries and that Jharkhand and Nepal present significant market opportunities for Bihar's fisheries sector.
Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Government of India, revealed that over the last decade, Bihar has received nearly ₹900 crore under PMMSY & Blue Revolution schemes, including around ₹600 crore under PMMSY alone. Government of India investments of over ₹902 crore in the fisheries sector during the last eleven years have helped transform Bihar's fisheries landscape, with fish production more than doubling from 4.79 lakh MT in 2014-15 to 10.28 lakh MT in 2025-26, elevating the State from the ninth to the fourth largest inland fish-producing state in the country. Bihar has also emerged as a net supplier of 89,600 MT of fish to neighboring states annually.
Resource Base and Economic Potential
Bihar possesses one of the country's richest inland aquatic resource bases, with over 1.22 lakh hectares of tanks and ponds, 9.5 lakh hectares of floodplain wetlands and derelict waters, 0.64 lakh hectares of reservoirs, and more than 21,354 kilometers of rivers and canals, providing immense opportunities for sustainable fisheries-led economic growth. The Integrated Aqua Park is designed to ensure availability of quality fish seed, demonstrate modern aquaculture technologies, build capacities of fish farmers, and reduce dependence on neighbouring states for critical aquaculture inputs, thereby improving productivity and farmer incomes.