150 more Chilika Fresh outlets to open across Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 8:

Buoyed by the popularity of recently-opened two Chilika Fresh outlets in the capital city, the state government is contemplating to expand its presence and open 150 more such counters across Odisha.

The Chilika Fresh outlets near OUAT and IRC village selling fish, shrimps, prawn and crabs from the Chilika lake, inland water resources and the adjoining sea have been doing a roaring business of Rs 10,000 per day.

“In next one year, Chilika Fresh outlets will be opened in Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Brahmapur, Rourkela and other parts of the state. Besides, the capital city will get 26 new Chilika Fresh outlets set up by FISHFED, the apex fisheries cooperative organisation,” said Bishnupada Sethi, Commissioner-Cum-Secretary of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department.

“The outlet near OUAT is a success story and does business of Rs 10,000 per day. The second outlet in IRC village is also seeing a good customer footfall,” Sethi said.

Fish from fishermen from Chilika, Gopalpur, Paradeep and other fish cultivating areas are directly bought and sold in these outlets.

Earlier, the fishermen used to face a lot of difficulty in selling their products in the market, but after Chilika Fresh outlets, the fishermen can now directly sell their products in a big market like Bhubaneswar, said the Commissioner.

The 26 outlets will be set up in strategic places like Chandrasekharpur, Kalpana, Unit-4, Barmunda, Rajmahal, Rasulgarh, Nalco chowk, Patia, Nayapalli, Khandagiri, Acharya Vihar, Jaydev Vihar in PPP mode. These outlets will sell marine products from Chilika as well as fresh water fish at lower than the market rates.