Coastal community development is a key component of the ambitious Project Sagarmala (port-led development) launched by the Government of India that has direct benefit to the small and artisanal fishermen. The development of coastal community is a critical area in India as 18% of Indias population lives in 73 coastal districts. Major approaches adopted by Government of India for skill development of coastal community to create jobs for them include: * Promoting skill training programmes for job roles related to ports and maritime sector, * Promoting skill training and livelihood generation programmes (not related to maritime sector) for coastal community and to support development human capital for proposed industrial clusters, and * Providing access to training facilities of major ports third party skill training programmes which will reduce the need to develop new training infrastructure for coastal areas. Under the Sagarmala project, Government of India is implementing a number of projects to enhance livelihood / employment opportunities for the coastal communities and has already released US$ 2.5 million for skilling projects covering more than 20,000 people across 20 coastal districts. The Government is also undertaking skill gap analysis in 21 coastal districts to expand the projects to other coastal districts. Skilling projects which could benefit artisanal fisherman taken up for funding so far include 10 additional fishing harbours at a total allocation of US$ 2.2 million. A Community Development Fund has also been created under the Sagarmala project to fund skilling, infrastructure and social development projects related to the coastal community. It will fund projects to ensure value addition in fisheries, aquaculture, cold chain development, local tourism and recreational facilities.