Mumbai, Nov 9 : India's first ever shipment of bananas by the sea route to Europe was flagged off on Thursday. The groundbreaking initiative organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is aimed at enhancing the market share of Indian bananas in the European market. A total of 19.50 metric tons of bananas were exported by the APEDA registered exporter M/s INI Farms Pvt. Ltd. from Maharashtra, The consignment of bananas was dispatched from the packhouse of M/s INI Farms Pvt. Ltd, at Vasunde, Baramati - Kurkumbh Road in Pune district and it will be carried out via sea transportation through Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai. The entire support to commence export activities systematically was given by APEDA to M/s INI Farms Pvt. Ltd. marking the initiation of a new era in Indian banana export. /IANS