Kolkata: The Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) today committed Rs. 45,000 crore for the development of river cruise tourism in the country. Of this, an estimated Rs. 35,000 crore has been earmarked for cruise vessels and another Rs. 10,000 crore for the development of cruise terminal infrastructure by 2047.
To ramp up capacity and augment the viability of inland waterways of the country, and to enable inland waterways as conduits of economic growth and commerce in the country, the maiden edition of IWDC in Kolkata culminated with many firsts. The IWDC was conceived with an objective to rejuvenate India’s “rich, complex and dynamic” waterways.
The one-day IWDC meet was held on board the vessel MV Ganges Queen at the Kolkata Dock Complex. It was organised by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, who chaired the IWCD meet which was attended by key stakeholders including ministerial representations from states as well as prominent stakeholders including policymakers and industry leaders, launched ‘Harit Nauka’ guidelines and ‘River Cruise Tourism Roadmap, 2047,’ at the inaugural session today.
“With the launch of ‘Harit Nauka – Guidelines for Green Transition of Inland Vessels,’ MoPSW embarks on a journey towards a sustainable and eco-friendly future for our inland waterways. The roadmap had identified 30+ additional potential routes for different cruise types, including long and short, recreational and heritage segments to attract all tourist categories,” Sonowal said. He informed the gathering that an action plan and roadmap, including route development, marketing strategy, infrastructure development and navigation to effectively proceed with developing such additional river cruises was also ready.
The roadmap chalked out a strategy to enable capacity in an additional 26 waterways, fit for river cruise tourism from an operational strength of eight waterways. The number of cruise circuits with night stays would be increased from 17 to 80 during the same time.
To boost infrastructure in the inland waterways, the number of river cruise terminals would be increased to 185, registering a growth of 1233% from the present strength of 15 terminals. Building on the capacity of enhanced circuits, the cruise tourism traffic with night stays would be moved up from 5,000 to 1.20 lakh by 2047. Similarly, the local cruise tourism traffic on National Waterways without night stay would be increased from 2 lakh to 15 lakh by 2047.
– global bihari bureau
