CM seeks Centre’s support for aquaculture, tobacco sectors in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh seeking policy and financial support for the State’s aquaculture and tobacco sectors, citing rising input costs and growing competition in global markets.

Mr. Naidu, in a letter to Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, requested a reduction in GST on aquaculture aerators from 18% to 5%, a one-time additional ₹5 lakh credit limit under the Kisan Credit Card scheme for aquaculture farmers, and creation of a ₹100-crore NFDB (National Fisheries Development Board) corpus for domestic marketing. He also sought a reduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax) on unmanufactured tobacco from 40% to 28%, saying it would benefit farmers, traders and exporters while strengthening the sector’s competitiveness.