Puducherry, a union territory (UT) of India, is bounded on the East by the Bay of Bengal and on the remaining three sides by Tamil Nadu. The UT comprises Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, wherein Karaikal lies about 130 km south of Puducherry on the East Coast and Mahe is situated on the Malabar Coast on the Western Ghats surrounded by Kerala. Yanam is situated adjoining the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. The coastline is 45 kms, with 26 landing centers and 1,000 sq. km. of continental shelves (with potential marine fisheries).

The UT has a strong presence in the tourism, agriculture and marine product sectors. It is an attractive tourist destination with beaches and French architecture. The UT witnessed arrival of 1,713,248 domestic tourists and 149,919 foreign tourists in 2019.

Puducherry has a fishermen population of about 95,467, of which 29,383 fishermen are actively engaged in fishing from 27 marine fishing villages and 23 inland fishing villages/hamlets. The union territory is also endowed with freshwater area in the form of ponds and tanks that are suitable for both capture and culture fishery.

Agriculture is one of the most important occupations for the people of Pondicherry. About 45% of the total population depends directly or indirectly on farming. The agriculture sector contributes <2% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of the Government of Puducherry. The UT is one of the largest producers of bananas, flowers, tapioca, coconut, groundnut and sugarcane in the country.

The following are some of the major government initiatives to promote Puducherry as an investment destination:

• In February 2021, Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the Blood Centre at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, and dedicated a 100-bed hostel to women athletes in Lawspet, Puducherry. In addition, he inaugurated the reconstructed Heritage Marie Building.
• In February 2021, The Ministry of MSME announced that it is establishing an expertise centre in Puducherry to promote, support and foster growth of indigenous MSMEs and start-ups in the state.
• In January 2021, the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare in Puducherry introduced a helpline to assist fishermen in contacting the department to resolve their grievances.
  • In addition, the government will provide transponders at a subsidised rate. It will offer a subsidy of Rs. 5,000 (US$ 68.90) and as a transponder costs Rs. 15,000 (US$ 206.69), the fishermen would only have to pay Rs. 10,000 (US$ 137.79) to procure the device.
• In Union Budget 2021, the total funds transferred to Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir stood at Rs. 48,686 crore (US$ 6.72 billion). Of the total, the government allocated funds worth Rs. 8,065 crore (US$ 1.11 billion) to centrally sponsored schemes, Rs. 177 crore (US$ 24.43 million) to central sector schemes and Rs. 40,444 crore (US$ 5.58 billion) to other categories of expenditure.
• In November 2020, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) unveiled the ‘Potential Linked Credit Plan’ (PLP) for Puducherry worth Rs. 3,457.14 crore (US$ 467.74 million) for 2021-22.