How do digital platforms such as NFDP help formalise the informal fisheries sector? What are their limitations?

Fisheries support the livelihoods of more than 30 million people, and most of them are small operators who work on thin margins and borrow informally [1]. The National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP) was launched in September 2024 under PM-MKSSY, a Central Sector sub-scheme of PMMSY [3]. It is meant to bring this invisible workforce into the formal system. It does this well, but only up to a point.

How NFDP formalises the sector

• Digital identity: NFDP aims to give work-based digital identities to 40 lakh small and micro-enterprises [3]. It had crossed 27 lakh registrations by September 2025 [4].
• Institutional credit: NFDP is a single window for loans, which can replace high-interest informal borrowing [1][2].
• DBT-linked insurance: The 40% premium incentive under Component 1-B is paid directly to farmers' accounts, which cuts out leakage [1].
• Collectivisation: The scheme aims to strengthen 5,500 fisheries cooperatives [2].
• Traceability: Tracking supply chains helps meet export standards. This matters because frozen shrimp earns about 66% of seafood export revenue [1].

Fisher → NFDP ID → Credit | Insurance (DBT) | Traceability | Incentives

Fig: NFDP as a one-stop gateway

Limitations

• Registration is a barrier: A special nationwide campaign had to be run just to get people registered [5]. Anyone left off the platform gets no benefits.
• Registrations are not the same as use: Only 262 insurance applications, covering 710 ha, had been sent to insurers against a target of 1 lakh ha [6].
• Digital divide: Many fishers come from coastal, tribal and poor communities [1], where digital literacy and connectivity are weak.
• A platform cannot fix scheme design: The incentive covers only one crop cycle, and farmers still pay 60% of the premium. The scheme works only if farmers trust that claims will be settled on time [1].
• Risk of data mismatches: In PMFBY, missing bank details and data disputes delayed claims [7]. NFDP-linked schemes could face the same problems.
• Short tenure: PM-MKSSY is approved only up to FY 2026-27 [2].

NFDP has given the sector an identity, a data layer and a DBT channel, which is the groundwork for formalisation. Making that formalisation real will need assisted registration through cooperatives, public data on how quickly each insurer settles claims, and support that continues beyond one crop cycle. With these steps, NFDP can move from a registry towards inclusive growth for small fishers, in line with SDG 14.b.