Inland Waterways Development Council Announces Mega Plans

An investment of Rs. 45000 Cr will go into the development of the country’s inland waterways, said The Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC), the apex advisory body for the development of the inland waterway sector in the country

Of this investment, an estimated Rs 35,000 crores will be used to promote the cruise sector and another Rs 10,000 crores will be used for the development of cruise terminal infrastructure by 2047. These measures are expected to propel a four times growth in cargo volume to 500 million tons per annum (MTPA) by

2047.

The Council has representation from North-Eastern states such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and Nagaland when deciding the course of waterway development in the country. From the plains, states with large river systems like Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar in North India are also represented. It operates like the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) which focuses on development of ports and coastal states

This would mean investment on inland waterways will continue to confine with river ganges and Brahmaputra and states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala with perennial rivers which have abundant potential for inland transport have to wait for their turn indefinitely according to industry sources.

A roadmap has been prepared to identify 30 plus additional potential routes for different cruise types, including long and short, recreational and heritage segments to attract all tourist categories.  Even in the case of cruise terminals, the port infrastructure is developed in a big way in the west coast ports of Mumbai Goa and Cochin but east coast ports have mini terminals.  These mini terminals in Chennai instead of tapping the tourist potential within the country are focused on developing tourism in Sri Lanka.

Most of the cruise circuits operated from Chennai port make a beeline to Sri Lankan ports though states like Tamil Nadu Andhra  Pradesh and Odisha are known for their temple architecture. It is time that cruise policy of the government should help to promote tourist spots within the country. Like they talk about developing the tourist potential of  Lakshadweep islands only after India’s relations with Maldives nosedived according to industry sources

Ports Minister SarbanandaSonowal launched the ‘HaritNauka’ guidelines and ‘River Cruise Tourism Roadmap, 2047.’ Highlighting key goals, he said, “The roadmap had identified 30 plus additional potential routes for different cruise types, including long and short, recreational and heritage segments to attract all tourist categories.”

“An action plan and roadmap, including route development, marketing strategy, infrastructure development and navigation to effectively proceed with developing such additional river cruises is also ready,” he added.