India, Feb. 1 -- Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced sops to bolster India's seafood industry and marine shipments, including a waiver of duties on imported inputs, and policies aimed at promoting a sector impacted by increasing protectionism and US tariffs.

Catches beyond the country's territorial waters may be brought into the country free of duty, and such fish, which land at foreign ports, will be treated as exports, the finance minister said in her budget speech.

"Landing of such fish on foreign port will be treated as export of goods," Sitharaman said. Analysts say this will reflect higher export quantities from catches made in the specific areas spelt-out in the budget. There will, however, be guardrails...