Guwahati: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday said that the Centre is in the process to construct a world-class cruise terminal in Varanasi for the expansion of river cruise tourism in the temple city.
The minster was addressing an event organized for the upcoming Global Maritime India Summit 2023.
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Sonowal further elaborated on the government’s commitment to create a sustainable and modern maritime ecosystem.
He added that India is pioneering in the river cruise tourism sector with the world’s longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, which completed its maiden voyage in Dibrugarh, Assam in February this year.
“We are creating a viable ecosystem and modernizing all the ports across the country be it for cargo movement, transportation of goods or reduction of costs,” Sonowal said.
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With the Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti initiative, the government has achieved a fantastic milestone in waterways-centric transport, doubling the multimodal freight share to 12 per cent and reducing logistics cost.
The event was organised by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, and the roadshow served as a precursor to the 3rd Global Maritime India Summit, 2023 (GMIS) which will take place between October 17th and October 19th, 2023.