India's seafood exports reached a record $8.46 billion in the 2025-26 financial year, the Marine Products Export Development Authority reported, as the country shipped 1.97 million tonnes abroad. The figures, worth about 73,890 crore rupees, represented growth of roughly 16% in volume and 18% in value over the previous year and marked the highest performance on record by both measures.
Frozen shrimp remained the backbone of the trade, generating about 49,038 crore rupees, or some $5.62 billion. The category made up roughly 40% of total export volume and about two-thirds of the dollar earnings, underscoring how heavily India's marine exports lean on a single high-value product.
The United States and China stood out as the dominant markets. The United States was the largest buyer of Indian frozen shrimp, importing about 256,000 tonnes, followed by China at roughly 170,000 tonnes and the European Union at around 136,000 tonnes, according to the authority's data.
MPEDA Chairman P. Jawahar said the result amounted to a record showing despite a difficult external environment, citing global headwinds that have buffeted exporters. Indian seafood producers have contended with shifting trade policies, freight costs and competition from other low-cost shrimp-farming nations.
The record sits within a broader push to expand India's footprint in global food trade, where the country has sought to diversify both its products and its destination markets. Officials have encouraged value addition and quality compliance to insulate exporters from tariff and sanitary barriers in major markets.
Sustaining the momentum will depend in part on demand in the United States and China, which together absorb a large share of Indian shipments, and on the sector's ability to manage costs. For now, the FY26 numbers cap a strong year for an industry that supports millions of livelihoods along India's coastline.