The extent of idle capacity in the fish processing (freezing) plants in the east coast of India estimated by stratified random sampling and the factors responsible for the same are reported. The estimates of idle capacity of fish processing plants in the east coast for the years 1978 and 1979 were respectively 75.9% and 72.5% on the basis of 250 working days per annum and double shift per day. The percentage errors of estimates worked out to 6.9 for 1978 and 4.7 for 1979. The corresponding figures were worked out on the basis of 200 working days also. Substantial under-utilisation of plants in all the maritime states in the east coast accounted mainly to non-availability of raw material, high cost of production, shortage of power, scarcity of ice and potable water during peak season and frequent labour troubles

Kesavan Nair, A.K.

Krishna Iyer, H.

Nair, R.G.

Srinivasa Rao, K.

Unnithan, G.R.

Aquatic Commons

Fish. Techno!. (1982) 19, 9-14 9 
urvey on the Idle of 
Fish recessing (Freezing) lants in lndia-11- East oast 
H. KRISHNA IYER, P. SRINIVASA RAO, G. R. UNNITHAN, 
A. K. KESA VAN NAIR and R. G. NAIR 
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin-682 029 
The extent of idle capacity in the fh:h processing (freezing) plants in the east coast 
of India estimated by stratified random sampling and the factors responsible for the 
same are reported. The estimates of idle capacity of fish processing plants in the east 
coast for the years 1978 and 1979 were respectively 75.9% and 72.5% on the basis of 250 
working days per annum and double shift per day. The percentage errors of estimates 
worked out to 6.9 for 1978 and 4.7 for 1979. The corresponding figures were worked 
out on the basis of 200 working days also. Substantial under-utilisation of plants in 
all the maritime states in the east cost accounted mainly to non-availability of raw 
material, high cost of production, shortage of power, scarcity of ice and potable water 
during peak season and frequent labour troubles. 
The total coast line of the maritime states 
in the east coast of India comprising the 
states of Tamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh, Orissa 
and West Bengal is about 2650 km, 47% 
of the total coast line of India (Anon, 1978). 
The penaeid prawn landings in the east 
coast were estimated at 22.8 thousand tonnes 
in 1979 (Anon, 1979), which formed nearly 
20% of the total penaeid prawn landings 
in India. Freezing of prawns for export 
started as early as 1968 (Anon, 1978) in 
this coast. Prior to this period, prawns 
from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were 
transported to neighbouring states by 
rail and road. The vast potentiality of raw 
material, especially bigger sized prawns in 
this coast and the increased transportation 
charges over years, paved the way for the 
establishment of fish processing (freezing) 
plants in the east coast. In the beginning of 
1969 there were hardly a couple of fish pro-
<;essing plants with an annual installed capa-
city of about six thousand tonnes. Gra-
dually, more and more plants came into 
existence, and in the beginning of 1979 there 
were about 94 fish processing plants engaged 
in freezing of prawns, froglegs and lobster 
tails. The total installed capacity of these 
plants was about 120.5 thousand tonnes 
per year (250 working days in 3 shifts) and 
the annual production was nearly 22.3 
thousand tonnes in 1979. Since these plants 
depend mostly on seasonal prawn catch, 
Vol. 19, 1982 
there is every reason to suspect the existence 
of large idle capacity in plants in this coast. 
To estimate the extent of idle capacity of 
the plants and also to identify the causative 
factors, a survey was conducted during 1980, 
covering all the maritime statts in India. 
The chief findings of the survey of the east 
coast states of India are reported in this 
paper. 
Materials and Methods 
To estimate the idle capacity of the fish 
processing plants in India, a stratified ran-
dom sampling plan was adopted, the strata 
being freezing plants of under 5 tonnes, 
5 to 10 tonnes and above 10 tonnes capacity 
per day. Allowing a marginal error of 
20% on the installed capacity at all India 
level, 45 freezing plants were sampled, out 
of a total of 94 on the east coast. Data 
from the sampled plants were collected 
through personal interviews for the years 
1978 and 1979 as per the proforma prepared 
for the study. The idle capacity of each 
sampled plant was worked out by taking 
the difference between the installed capacity 
and actual production during the year for 
single, double and triple shifts for 200 and 
250 working days per year. However, 
under practical conditions, 250 working 
days per year can be considered to be 
normal with respect to many organised 
10 H. K. IYER, P. S. RAO, G. R. UNNITHAN, A. K. K. NAIR AND R. G. NAIR 
industries (Mensinkai, 1969). The idle 
capacity of the plants in each stratum was 
estimated first and pooling the stratum 
estimates at respective levels, the estimates 
for the states and the east coast as a whole 
were obtained. The formulae used for the 
estimation were the same as those described 
in an earlier communication (Krishna Iyer 
et al., 1981). 
Results and Discussion 
The estimates of installed capacity, idle 
capacity and the percentage error of esti-
mates worked out for single, double and 
triple shifts by taking 200 and 250 normal 
working days in a year for 1978 and 1979 
are presented in Table 1. The stratum 
wise and statewise idle capacities fof east 
coast are furnished in Table 2. 
Tamil Nadu 
Tamil Nadu, one of the important mari-
time stat~s in the east coast of India has a 
coast line of about 998 km. Though dry 
fish export flourished in the state for more 
than a century, freezing of prawn for export 
started only in late 1968. The first freez-
ing plant was started in this state some time 
in 1968 with a daily production of 5 tonnes. 
As exportable variety of prawn was available 
in plenty in this state and consequently 
more and more freezing plants came into 
existence, so that at the beginning of 1979 
there were about 44 freezing plants. Out 
of these, 21 plants were sampled for esti-
mating the idle capacity, 14 from under 5 
tonnes, 5 from 5 to 10 tonnes and 2 from 
above 10 tonnes daily capacity. The ins-
talled capacity of all the plants in the state 
during 1978 and 1979 for double shift and 
250 working days in a year was estimated 
to be 39.4 and 38.5 thousand tonnes res-
pectively while the actual production esti-
mates were 12.0 and 13.7 thousand tonnes. 
The idle capacity of the plants for 1978 and 
1979 for double shift and 250 working days 
in a year wa& estimated at 69.4% and 64.5% 
and the corresponding triple shift figures 
were 79.6% and 76.0% (Table 1). Com-
pared to other east coast states, the idle 
capacity is found to be less in this state. 
Among different strata (Table 2), plants 
under 5 tonnes daily capacity had 
less idle capacity than those in 5 to 10 tonnes 
and above 10 tonnes capacity per day, in 
all the 3 shifts, both for 200 and 250 working 
days in a year for 1978 and 1979. Under 5 
tonnes capacity range, the percentage idle 
capacity for single, double and triple shifts 
were 21.1, 60.6 and 73.7 in 1978 and 21.8, 
60.9 and 73.9 in 1979 respectively when 
250 working days in a year were taken. 
These figures are less than the east coast 
estimates for plants under 5 tonnes. for the 
three shifts, 51%, 75.5% and 83.7% in 1978 
and 44.6 %, 72.3% and 81.5% in 1979 res-
pectively. Compared to 1978, the capacity 
utilisation has slightly increased during 1979. 
The main factors contributing to the idle 
capacity of plants in this state were non-
availability of raw material, shortage of 
power and high cost of production. The 
percentage errors of estimates of idle capa-
city for 1978 and 1979 ·with double shift 
and 250 working days were 15.5 and 9.8 
and for triple shifts the corresponding 
figures were 12.8 and 7.8 respectively. 
Andhra Pradesh 
Next to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh 
has the longest coast line (970 km) on the 
east coast. Freezing of prawns for export 
was started in this state as early as 1972. 
Prior to this, major portion of the prawn 
landings was transported to neighbouring 
states, where it was processed and exported. 
In the beginning of 1979, there were hardly 
15 fish processing plants engaged in freezing 
of prawns, lobster tails and froglegs. 8 plants 
were sampled for estimating the idle capa-
city, 4 from under 5 tonnes, 4 from 5 to 10 
tonnes capacity per day. There were no 
plants above 10 tonnes capacity in this state 
during the survey period. The installed 
capacity of all the plants in 1979 for double 
and triple shifts for 250 working days in a 
year were 12.6 thousand tonnes and 18.9 
thousand tonnes respectively, (Table 1), 
and the estimated production during the 
year was 3.8 thousand tonnes. The idle 
capacity of the plants for double shift and 
for 250 working days in a year for 1978 
and 1979 was 77% and 70.1% respectively 
while the corresponding figures for triple 
shifts were 84.7% and 80.1 %. Though 
there existed substantial idle capacity of 
plants in both double and triple shifts, they 
were less, compared to the east coast figures 
of 1979. The stratum wise idle capacity 
FISHERY TECHNOLOGY 
< Table 1. Annual installed capacity and the rate of unutilised capacity (in '000 tonnes of frozen .fishery products) in 1918 and 1979 ...... 0 for the states in the east coast of India 0 
-
r 
trJ 
........ 
1.0 Single shift Double shift Triple shift () 
> 
........ 
'i:j \0 
00 200days 250days 200days 250days 200days 250days > tv 1978 1979 1978 1979 1978 1979 1978 1979 1978 1979 1978 1979 () ~ 
1-1 
Tamil Nadu -< 
0 
a) Annual installed 15.8 15.4 19.7 19.3 31.6 30.8 39.4 38.5 47.3 46.2 59.2 57.8 "Tj 
"Tj 
capacity H 
CZl b) Estimated idle capacity 3.7 1.9 7.6 5.6 19.8 17.1 27.4 24.8 35.3 32.5 47.1 43.9 :I: 
c) % idle capacity 23.4 12.3 38.7 29.1 62.7 55.7 69.4 64.5 74.5 70.5 79.6 76.0 
'i:j 
d) % error ofthe estimate 61.0 77.5 33.5 28.7 18.0 12.1 15.5 9.8 14.0 8.6 12.8 7.8 ~ 
0 
Andhra Pradesh () trJ 
U1 
a) Annual installed 5.0 5.0 6.3 6.3 10.0 10.1 12.6 12.6 15.1 15.1 18.8 18.9 rJ'l 
-z 
capacity 0 b) Estimated idle capacity 2.1 1.3 3.4 2.5 7.2 6.3 9.7 8.8 12.2 11.4 15.9 15.1 
""0 
c) % idle capacity 42.4 25.2 53.9 40.1 71.2 62.6 77.0 70.1 80.8 75.1 84.7 80.1 r 
d) ~~ error of the estimate 11.0 34.5 5.6 17.5 0.8 7.5 0.5 5.7 1.2 4.8 1.8 4.1 > z 
P-:1 
West Bengal lZl 
a) Annual installed 12.8 11.7 16.0 14.6 25.5 23.4 31.9 29.2 38.3 35.1 47.9 43.8 
capacity 
b) Estimated idle capacity 7.5 7.0 10.7 9.9 20.3 18.7 26.6 24.5 33.0 30.4 42.6 39.2 
c) % idle capacity 58.7 60.0 67.0 68.0 79.3 80.0 83.5 84.0 86.2 86.7 89.0 89.3 
d) ~~ error of the estimate 7.3 5.7 6.0 5.1 4.8 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 
East coast 
a) Annual .installed 33.6 32.1 42.0 40.2 67.1 64.3 83.9 80.3 100.7 96.4 12.5.9 120.5 
capacity 
b) Estimated idle capacity 13.3 10.2 21.7 18.1 47.2 42.2 63.7 58.2 80.5 74.3 105.6 98.2 
c) ~~ idle capacity 39.7 31.6 51.7 45.0 70.3 65.6 75.9 72.5 79.9 77.1 83.9 81.5 
d) % error of the estimate 17.5 15.5 12.2 9.6 7.8 5.5 6.9 4.7 6.4 4.2 6.0 3.9 
....... 
........ 
Table 2. Percentage idle capacity in different strata of each state in the east coast of India for 1978 and 1979 ..... N 
1978 1979 
200days 250days 200days 250days ::c 
~ 
Shifts U/5 5/10 10 up U/5 5/10 10 up U/5 5/10 10 up U/5 5/10 10 up 
->-<: 
Tamil Nadu I 1.4 57.8 14.3 21.1 66.2 31.5 4.3 11.2 28.9 21.8 28.9 43.1 t:I:! :::0 
II 53.0 78.9 57.2 60.6 83.1 65.1 51.1 55.6 64.5 60.9 64.5 71.6 ;o 
~· 
III 67.1 85.9 71.5 73.7 88.7 77.2 67.4 70.4 76.3 73.9 75.3 81.0 :::0 
> ~0 
Andhra Pradesh I 53.2 27.8 - 62.6 42.2 - 33.7 12.7 
-
47.0 30.1 - 9 
II 76.6 63.9 81.3 71.1 66.9 56.3 73.5 65.1 :::0 - - - -
c 
84.4 75.9 - 87.5 80.7 - 77.9 70.9 - 82.3 76.7 - z z 
-~ 
West Bengal & I 68.5 63.4 29.9 74.8 70.7 43.9 58.3 64.4 60.6 66.6 71.6 68.5 ::c > Orissa ~ 84.3 81.7 65.0 87.4 85.4 72.0 79.1 82.2 80.3 83.3 85.8 84.2 ;> 
III 89.5 87.8 76.6 91.6 90.2 81.3 86.1 88.2 86.9 88.9 90.5 89.5 ~ 
~ 
East coast I 38.8 53.0 21.3 51.0 62.4 37.0 31.6 24.1 42.6 44.6 39.3 54.1 z 
> 
~ II 70.3 76.5 60.6 75.5 81.2 68.5 65.4 62.1 71.3 72.3 -69.7 77.0 ?::i 
u:> > ::P III 79.6 84.3 73.8 83.7 87.5 79.0 76.9 74.7 80.9 81.5 79.2 84.7 z ti:I 
:::0 u 
....: 
...., 
:::0 ti:I (J 
a ::P z 
0 z t""' 
0 > 0 
-><: ?:' 
IDLE CAPACITY OF FISH PROCESSING PLANTS 13 
of the plants (Table 2) showed that, 
idle capacity was comparatively less in 
plants of 5-10 tonnes capacity per day. The 
figures on the basis of 250 working days in a 
year for single, double and triple shifts 
were 42.2 %, 71.1 % and 80.7% respectively 
in 1978 and 30.1 %, 65.1% and 76.7% res-
pectively in 1979. Also the stratum wise 
estimates of idle capacity of plants in 5-1 0 
tonnes capacity range were less compared 
to the corresponding figures for the east 
coast in 1979; the figures for single, double 
and triple shifts with 250 working days were 
39.3 %, 69.7% and 79.2% respectively. 
Compared to 1978, there were improve-
ments in capacity utilisation in 1979 due to 
improved prawn landings and freezing of 
cuttle fish and lobster tails. The major 
factors responsible for the underutilisation 
of plants in the state were, shortage and high 
cost of raw material (prawns) for processing 
and shortage of power. The percentage 
errors of estimates worked out for 1978 and 
1979 for double shift with 250 working days 
in a year were 0.5 and 5.7 and for triple 
shifts these figures were 1. 8 and 4.1 respecti-
vely. 
West Bengal and Orissa 
The states of West Bengal and Orissa 
have a combined coast line of about 680 
km of which 200 km are in West Bengal. 
Freezing of prawns for export started here 
in 1971. During 1979, there were 35 freez-
ing plants of which 11 were in Orissa. A 
sample of 16 plants was selected for esti-
mating the idle capacity of which 11 were 
under 5 tonnes, 2 were 5 to 10 tonnes and 3 
were above 10 tonnes capacity per day. The 
estimated installed capacity of all the plants 
in these two states with double shift and 250 
working days in a year was 31.9 and 29.2 
thousand tonnes during 1978 and 1979 
respectively while the estimated production 
for these two years was respectively 5.3 
and 4. 7 thousand tonnes (Table 1 ). The 
estimated idle capacity of the plants for 
1978 and 1979 with double shift and 250 
working days in a year was 83.5% and 
84.0% respectively and for triple shift the 
corresponding figures were 89% and 89.3% 
respectively. Among the east coast states 
idle capacity was maximum in West Bengal 
and Orissa in all the 3 shifts and in both 
the years. The stratum wise figures for 
Vol. 19, 1982 
idle capacity (Table 2) showed that for 
plants under 5 tonnes daily capacity, the 
percentage of idle capacity for single, double 
and triple shifts were respectively 74.8, 
87.4 and 91.6 in 1978 and 66.6, 83.3 and 
88.9 in 1979 for 250 working days. These 
figures were comparatively larger than the 
east coast figures for the 3 shifts, 51.0 %, 
75.5% and 83.7% in 1978 and 44.6%, 
72.3% and 81.5% in 1979. In plants of 
5-10 tonnes capacity range, the percentage 
idle capacity remained more or less the 
same in both the years. For the plants above 
10 tonnes capacity range, the percentage 
idle capacity was more in 1979 compared 
to 1978 in all the three shifts. The major 
factors contributing to the large idle capa-
city of the plants in these states were (1) 
non-availability of raw material (2) power 
shortage (3) labour problems and (4) high 
cost of production. The errors of estimates 
of idle capacity for double shift with 250 
working days for 1978 and 1979 were res-
pectively 4.6% and 4.5 %. 
It is evident from the foregoing discussion 
that there existed a considerable amount 
of idle capacity in the fish processing plants 
in the east coast of India. The idle capa-
city estimated for the plants in the east coast 
on the basis of 250 working days with 
double shift per day during 1978 and 1979 
was respectively 75.9% and 72.5% and 
for triple shift these figures were respec-
tively 83.9% and 81.5 %. The percentage 
errors of estimates of idle capacity for 
double shift with 250 working days in 1978 
and 1979 were 6.9 and 4.7 respectively and 
for triple shifts they were 6.0 and 3.9 res-
pectively, indicating that the sampling 
errors are within usual limits. 
The factors responsible for the large idle 
capacity of plants in east coast are 
listed in Table 3. It may be noted that 
non-availability of raw material was the 
prime factor responsible for the substantial 
under utilisation of plants in this coast. 
Shortage of power, high cost of production, 
shortage of ice and potable water during 
peak season and labour problems were 
other major factors contributing to the 
under utilisation of plants. 
14 H. K. IYER, P. S. RAO, G. R. UNNITHAN, A. K. K. NAIR AND R. G. NAIR 
Table 3. Factors responsible for under-uti-
lisation of plants in the east coast 
of India 
Factors 
Non-availability of 
raw material 
Power shortage 
High cost of production 
Shortage of ice during 
% of processors 
reported the 
factor in the 
sample 
82.2 
62.2 
53.3 
peak season 24.4 
Labour problems 20.0 
Shortage of potable water 
during peak season 15.6 
Lack of transport facilities 13.3 
Lack of cold storage facilities 4.4 
Unsteady foreign market 4.4 
Competition of processors from 
other states in procuring 
the raw material 4.4 
Lack of technical hands 2.2 
Based on the findings of the survey, 
following are a few recommendations which 
may help to reduce the idle capacity of fish 
processing plants in this coast. 
1. Promoting mass aquaculture of prawns 
to meet the raw material shortage. 
2. Exploration of new prawn grounds 
and introduction of more and more 
deep sea fishing trawlers to boost up 
prawn catch. 
3. Subsidy on diesel oil to all classes of 
fishing vessels 
4. Diversification of products 
5. Steady supply of power 
6. Abolition of purchase tax on raw 
material 
7. Check on movement of raw material 
from one state to the other 
8. Control on issuing licence to new 
entrepreneurs 
9. Improved shipping facilities 
10. Liberalisation on financial assistance/ 
subsidy to processors 
11. Improving cold storage facilities 
12. Fixing a floor price for fishery products 
The authors wish to express their deep sense of 
gratitude to all the fish processors in the east coast 
of India for extending their whole hearted co-opera-
tion in the study. They are also thankful to 
Dr. C. C. P. Rao, Director, Central Institute of 
Fisheries Technology and Dr. P. N. Kaul, Scientist-
in-Charge, Extension, Information and Statistics 
Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, 
Cochin-682 029, for encouragement. 
References 
Anon (1978) 'Export Potential of Marine 
Products in Tamil Nadu.' The Marine 
Products Export Development Autho-
rity, Cochin. 
Anon (1979) Statistics of Marine Products 
Exports. The Marine Products Export 
Development Authority, Cochin. 
Krishna Iyer, H., Srinivasa Rao, P., Unni-
than, G. R., Kesavan Nair, A. K. & 
Nair, R. G. (1981) Fish. Techno!. 
18, 109 
Mtnsinkai, S. S. (1969) Can. Fish. Rep. 
11, 18 
FISHERY TECHNOLOGY 


Survey on the idle capacity of fish processing (freezing) plants in India - 2. East coast

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Survey on the idle capacity of fish processing (freezing) plants in India - 2. East coast

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