India’s total fish production for 2024–25 reached about 197.75 lakh tonnes, with cold-water fisheries contributing nearly 3% to inland fish production. The country’s national cold-water fish production is currently at around 7,000 metric tonnes, with trout production alone increasing by about 1.8 times over the last decade to approximately 6,000 metric tonnes in 2024–25, as per the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying.
Various species like rainbow trout, golden mahseer, and snow trout are cultivated using specialized infrastructure such as hatcheries, raceways, RAS, biofloc systems, and cold chain facilities. Cold-water fisheries are thriving in states like Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, along with hill districts of West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
Jammu & Kashmir has emerged as the leading trout producing region in India, with around 3,010 MT production in 2025–26, supported by the Kokernag hatchery and over 2,000 private trout units. Himachal Pradesh produced about 1,673 MT of trout in 2025–26 with 909 trout farmers and 1,739 trout farming units. Uttarakhand recorded around 710 MT of trout production and a total fish production of 10,486 MT in 2024–25, supported by nearly 2,500 raceways across districts like Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, and Chamoli.
Ladakh has surpassed 50 MT production with 120 raceways and four hatcheries despite its challenging climatic conditions. States in the North-east like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Nagaland are progressively expanding hatcheries and trout farming. Additionally, states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are implementing pilot RAS and biofloc systems in hill regions such as Wayanad, Nilgiris, and Uttara Kannada.
Across cold-water states, around 23.51 lakh families have received livelihood support, and approximately 33.78 lakh fishers are covered under insurance schemes. Jammu & Kashmir alone has over 31,000 registered fishers and fish farmers. Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) from 2020–26, projects worth Rs 21,963.48 crore have been approved nationally, with over Rs 5,638.76 crore specifically sanctioned for cold-water states.
Investments include 5,663 raceways, 54 trout hatcheries, 13 large RAS units, 16 medium RAS units, 36 small RAS units, nearly 4,600 ponds in Himalayan and North Eastern regions, 293 cold storages, and 8,366 transport vehicles, as per the ministry. The PM-MKSSY scheme, with an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore, provides support for fisheries, aquaculture insurance, and performance grants.
