Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Hyderabad-based startup SmartGreen Aquaculture (SGA) has inaugurated India’s first inland, fully integrated premium rainbow trout farming facility in Kandukur Mandal, Ranga Reddy District on Monday. The USD 6 million project demonstrates that advanced cold-water aquaculture can thrive even in warmer regions like the Deccan Plateau.

Spread across 7 acres, the facility includes a 2-acre grow-out farm, a 5-acre hatchery, an on-site processing plant, and a flexible-scale Microalgae Biorefinery, which will serve as a skill center for Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology. The farm employs 200 people and integrates a farm-to-consumer model, including direct e-commerce for fresh and value-added trout products.

The grow-out facility consists of 44 circular tanks, each 5–10 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres deep, stocked at 70 kilograms per cubic metre. The annual production capacity is 1,200 metric tonnes, while the hatchery can produce 1.2 million fingerlings annually. The processing plant will produce fillets, steaks, and skinless trout products, ensuring freshness, traceability, and quality control.

The inauguration was attended by Union and State ministers, Members of Parliament, aquaculture experts, and officials from ICAR and the National Fisheries Department. In their addresses, they praised SGA for combining innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability to create high-value aquaculture opportunities in inland India.

Founder and Managing Director Aditya Rithvik Narra said, “Our precision-engineered farm proves that RAS technology allows premium trout farming even in warm climates. We aim to build a sustainable and scalable model while maintaining the highest standards of quality and traceability.” He added that the Microalgae Biorefinery will produce biomass for nutraceuticals, aquafeed, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and sustainable agriculture by 2026–27.

Unlike traditional open-water aquaculture, SGA’s inland RAS farm recycles and treats water continuously, reducing consumption and environmental impact while ensuring consistent water quality for sensitive species like rainbow trout. The farm also plans phased expansion, starting with 360 MT production, scaling up to 1,200 MT, targeting retail, hospitality, and institutional markets.

By integrating hatchery, farming, processing, and e-commerce, SGA reduces dependence on imports and intermediaries while engaging local communities and training small-scale farmers in aquaculture technology. India, the world’s second-largest fish producer, is well-positioned to benefit from initiatives like PM Matsya Sampada Yojana and the Blue Economy. The global aquaculture market is projected to grow to USD 421 billion by 2030, while the microalgae industry is expected to reach USD 3.5 billion.