The Inland Waterways Development Council has announced an investment of Rs 45,000 crore for the development of inland waterways in India. Of this amount, Rs 35,000 crore will be used for promoting the cruise sector and Rs 10,000 crore will be used for developing cruise terminal infrastructure by 2047. These measures are expected to quadruple cargo volumes to 500 million tonnes per year by 2047.
The council includes representation from North-eastern states, such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland, as well as states with large river systems such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India. It functions similarly to the Maritime State Development Council, which focuses on the development of ports and coastal states.
Additionally, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Inland Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, unveiled the ‘Harit Nauka’ guidelines and ‘River Cruise Tourism Roadmap, 2047,’ which aims to identify potential routes for different cruise types and increase the number of waterways suitable for river cruise tourism from eight to 26. The goal is to increase the number of overnight cruise rounds, as well as river cruise terminals and local cruise tourism traffic on National Waterways by 2047.
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