1 lakh delegates from 100 nations to take part in India Maritime Week: Sonowal

Guwahati, Sep 2 (PTI) Around one lakh delegates from over 100 countries will take part in the India Maritime Week next month, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Tuesday.

From October 27 to 31, Mumbai will host India Maritime Week, welcoming over 100 countries and 1,00,000 participants from across the maritime and tourism sectors, he said during a roadshow for the event here.

"This event marks a stepping stone in our journey towards positioning India as a global maritime leader. Looking ahead, India is poised to significantly enhance its maritime capacities and global footprint," Sonowal said.

The event, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be organised with an aim to establish India as the leading maritime nation in the world, he added.

The minister said that in the shipping sector, India aims to achieve a 20 per cent global market share in ship recycling and move into the list of top five ship-building nations by 2047.

"Cruise tourism in our nation has shown unprecedented growth during the last decade. To further tap the immense potential of cruise tourism in our nation, we launched the Cruise Bharat Mission last year. This Mission aims to make India a vibrant destination for both river and sea cruises," he added.

Sonowal said some of the main objectives of this Mission are the development of 100 river cruise terminals, 10 sea cruise terminals, and five marinas, doubling cruise calls and passenger numbers by 2029, expanding cruise circuits across the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Godavari and Kerala backwaters.

Strengthening regional partnerships with Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar to build a connected cruise network in South Asia is also a goal of the Cruise Bharat Mission, he added.

"Over the last decade, we have initiated a number of policy measures to boost cruise tourism, both in the sea and river cruise sector. Today, 25 river cruise vessels are operating in our National Waterways -- up from just three a decade ago," Sonowal said.

On the Brahmaputra, 14 cruise vessels are already in operation between Guwahati and Dibrugarh with many more to come, he added.

"Cargo movement on inland waterways, too, has grown from 18 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 145 million tonnes last year. We now have 30 operational waterways, up from just five in 2014," the Union minister said.

He said that the Northeast is playing a crucial role in this transformation, and in the last two years, the central government has invested Rs 1,000 crore in inland waterway infrastructure in the region.

Out of that, Rs 300 crore worth of works are already complete, and the remaining Rs 700 crore-works will be completed by this year-end, he added.

Sonowal further said, "There are a number of sanctuaries and national parks on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. A number of river cruise vessels with state-of-the-art facilities are plying on this waterway." To encourage the movement of these vessels, four tourist jetties at permanent places such as Guijan, Neamati, Bishwanath Ghat and Silghat are planned to be developed at a cost of Rs 299 crore over the next two years, for which Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been completed, he added.

"Feasibility study for urban water transport system at Guwahati, Tezpur and Dibrugarh has been assigned to KMRL. A field survey has been completed, and the report shall be ready by October 2025. The replication of Kochi Water Metro at these locations in full or part shall be developed based on the outcome of the feasibility report," Sonowal said.

The minister also said that in Assam, 12 passenger cruise vessels are to be procured, and the order for two has already been placed and the order for the remaining 10 shall be placed shortly. PTI TR TR ACD