World’s longest river cruise ‘Ganga Vilas’ to unlock potential of river cruise tourism in India: Sarbananda Sonowal

ANI |
Up to date: Jan 08, 2023 15:30 IST

New Delhi [India], January 8 (ANI): The launch of the world’s longest river cruise named MV Ganga Vilas by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13 in Varanasi will herald a brand new age of river cruise tourism for India, stated Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Delivery & Waterways and Ayush.
The posh cruise will cowl a distance of greater than 3,200 km throughout 27 river techniques in 5 states in India and Bangladesh. The large untapped potential of river cruises is about to get unlocked with the launch of this service, added Sonowal.
Talking on the event, Sonowal stated, “Below the dynamic management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we’re exploring the immense wealth that our wealthy river system has to supply”.
Sonowal stated, “This avenue of sustainable growth through inland waterways has acquired an amazing enhance as efforts to enhance cargo site visitors in addition to passenger tourism have borne fruit with encouraging outcomes. The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is a step in the direction of unlocking the massive potential river tourism the nation has to supply”.

“Our wealthy heritage will get additional transcended on the worldwide stage as vacationers will be capable of expertise the religious, the academic, the well-being, the cultural in addition to the richness of the biodiversity of India,” he added.
“From Kashi to Sarnath, from Majuli to Mayong, from Sunderbans to Kaziranga, this cruise packs an expertise of a lifetime. I consider that this glorious initiative, below the steerage of Prime Minister Modi, is the start of a brand new period in river cruise tourism in India and strengthening our authorities’s dedication to enabling Act East, each by coverage and observe.” Minister stated
The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is curated to carry out the most effective of the nation to be showcased to the world. The 51 days cruise is deliberate with visits to 50 vacationer spots together with World Heritage Websites, nationwide parks, river ghats, and main cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.

The MV Ganga Vilas vessel is 62 metres in size and 12 meters in width and comfortably sails with a draft of 1.4 meters. It has three decks, and 18 suites on board with a capability of 36 vacationers, with all of the facilities to offer a memorable and splendid expertise for the vacationers. The ship follows sustainable rules at its core as it’s outfitted with pollution-free mechanisms and noise management applied sciences.
The maiden voyage of MV Ganga Vilas will witness 32 vacationers from Switzerland relishing the Varanasi to Dibrugarh journey. The anticipated date of arrival of MV Ganga Vilas in Dibrugarh is on March 1, 2023.
The itinerary of MV Ganga Vilas has been curated to showcase the wealthy heritage of India with stopovers in spots of historic, cultural and spiritual significance. From the well-known “Ganga Arti” in Varanasi, it would cease at Sarnath, a spot of nice reverence for Buddhism. It is going to additionally cowl Mayong, identified for its Tantric craft, and Majuli, the biggest river island and hub of Vaishnavite tradition in Assam.
The travellers may also go to the Bihar College of Yoga and Vikramshila College, permitting them to soak within the wealthy Indian heritage in spirituality and data. The cruise may also traverse by the biodiversity-rich World Heritage Websites of Sunderbans within the Bay of Bengal delta, well-known for Royal Bengal Tigers, in addition to Kaziranga Nationwide Park, well-known for one horn rhino.
Highlighting the necessity to develop river cruise tourism within the nation, Union Minister Sonowal stated that the event of this sector would generate employment alternatives within the hinterland. The federal government is making capital expenditures to construct capability for the success of river cruise tourism within the nation.
He stated the river tourism circuits might be developed and built-in with the present tourism circuits for max publicity and fast growth of this sector within the nation.
The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is a first-of-its-kind cruise service. With assist from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) below the Ministry of Delivery, Ports and Waterways (MoPSW), the success of this service is more likely to enthuse entrepreneurs to discover river cruises in different elements of the nation.
The worldwide River cruise market has grown by 5 per cent over the previous couple of years and is anticipated to represent 37 per cent of the cruise market by 2027. Europe has been driving progress with approx. 60 per cent share of river cruise vessels on the planet. In India, 8 river cruise vessels are operational between Kolkata and Varanasi whereas cruise motion can also be operation on Nationwide Waterways 2 (Brahmaputra). Tourism actions like river rafting, tenting, sightseeing, kayaking and so forth are operated in lots of spots within the nation.
The development of 10 passenger terminals throughout NW2 is happening which is able to additional bolster the prospect of a river cruise. At current, 4 river cruise vessels are operational in NW2 whereas it’s working in a restricted capability in NW3 (West Coast Canal), NW8, NW 4, NW 87, NW 97, and NW 5. Because the capital expenditure is pumped to construct capability within the inland waterways, the river cruise is about to develop additional with systematic ahead and backward linkage for the economic system, particularly throughout the banks of the rivers. (ANI)