Patna, June 27: The animal and fish resources department has initiated projects for wholesale and retail fish markets in different districts of the state.

Three wholesale fish markets worth Rs 2.5 crore each are proposed at Patna, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga while retail fish markets worth Rs 50 lakh each are proposed at seven other districts including Gaya, Madhubani, Samastipur and Nalanda.

“Under the roadmap for the period of 2012-2017 for fish production and trade, we plan to increase our capacity from the existing 3 lakh metric tonne to nine lakh metric tonne. Under the same plan, we intend to construct organised and hygienic wholesale and retail fish markets. We have held meetings with urban development department and local bodies of the districts concerned and preparation of detailed project report (DPR) of these markets is expected to start once land is acquired by the local bodies and handed over to us. Once the DPR is prepared, the construction work would start,” said Giriraj Singh, minister of animal and fish resources department.

Singh added that against the present production of three metric tonnes of fish resources, the state itself has a demand of 4.5 to 5 metric tonne.

The proposed fish markets are under the action plan of National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB). The NFDB norms prescribe land area of two to three acres for construction of wholesale markets and 0.5 to one acre for retail markets. Such markets are expected to have trade outlets along with warehousing facilities. These are also expected to have basic amenities, including drinking water, waste management, sanitary drains and cold-chain (ice) systems for ensuring fresh fish products. Both retail and wholesale fish markets would be single-storey structures.

Under the proposed scheme, 90 per cent of the cost would be borne by NFDB and 10 per cent by the state government. These markets would be under the direct control of local bodies or municipal corporations or councils.

According to sources, Bazar Samiti at Rajendra Nagar and Machua Toli are two among the three proposed sites in Patna for the construction of wholesale fish market. Each wholesale market would have 20 sheds.

The department is also focussing on training farmers involved in fish production. “We are planning to open two fisheries training institutes at Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa, and another at Patna. Our aim is to train around 10,000 farmers by 2015,” said Singh.