GUWAHATI, May 20: Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh announced on Sunday that four aquaparks will be established in the Northeast region. These integrated aquaparks are planned to come up in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Nagaland.

During the inauguration of a fish festival in Agartala and the virtual laying of the foundation stone for the integrated aquapark in Tripura, the minister highlighted the Northeast’s potential for increasing fish production and noted the region’s high demand for fish. “The northeastern states and Tripura have the potential to increase fish production, and they also have huge demands for fish. Both the Central and state governments have undertaken efforts jointly to hike the production of fish in the country,” he said.

The integrated aquapark in Tripura will be located in the Unakoti district. Tripura Animal Resource Development Department Minister Sudhangshu Das, among others, attended the event.

The project, with an investment of Rs 42.4 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), is expected to serve as the backbone for upgrading infrastructure related to fish production, processing, and marketing in the state, according to a senior official.

The aquapark will provide services such as hatcheries, feed mills, and cold storage facilities, all under one roof, as per an official statement. Additionally, the park will function as a hub-and-spoke model to meet regional fish requirements.

Currently, Tripura has an annual per capita fish consumption rate of 29 kg.

In a related development, the Union minister inaugurated a 40 TLPD (tonnes per day) milk processing plant at Bamutia in the West Tripura district on Saturday. The newly launched unit has the capacity to handle 40,000 litres of milk per day, of which 10,000 litres will be processed into curd and buttermilk.

The milk processing plant has been established as part of efforts to achieve self-reliance in milk production, an official added.