Flagging off the river cruise “MV Ganga Vilas” through video conferencing on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said river waterway was now becoming the strength of India and the new era of river cruise tourism would generate employment opportunities for the youth of the country.

Besides inaugurating the Tent City on the bank along the Ganga in Varanasi, the Prime Minister also inaugurated Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal in West Bengal, four floating community jetties in UP and Maritime Skill Development Centre for North East at Guwahati and laid the foundation stones of five community jetties in Bihar and of a ship repair facility and an elevated road at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati.

“The river waterway is becoming the new strength of India and the new era of river cruise tourism has more potential to generate new employment opportunities for the youth of the country,” the Prime Minister said while flagging off the world’s longest river cruise “MV Ganga Vilas” virtually in a ceremony held at Ravidas Ghat here. Not only foreign tourists, tourists from various parts of the country would now head towards north India, he added.

The areas situated on the bank of rivers lagged behind in the post-Independence period as far as development was concerned and it led to a massive exodus of population from these areas, the Prime Minister said, adding that this situation had to be changed and thus the country adopted two approaches to address this unfortunate situation — one, the Namami Gange project to purify the water of Ganga and, the other is Arth Ganga project to give a boost to the economic activities in States through which the holy river passes.  

This river cruise, which would cover a distance of 3,200 km between Varanasi and Dibrugarh in Assam in 51 days, would bring the tourism sites of this region on the world tourism map, the Prime Minister said and added that projects worth more than `1,000 crore would give a boost to tourism and employment potential in eastern India.

“Today India has everything and a lot beyond your imagination. India can only be experienced from the heart as the nation has welcomed everyone with open hearts irrespective of region or religion, creed or country and has welcomed tourists from all parts of the world,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the tourists travelling in this cruise, adding that it had something special for everyone.

Those seeking spirituality will cover destinations like Kashi, Bodh Gaya, Vikramshila, Patna Sahib and Majuli, the tourists looking out for a multinational

cruise experience will get the opportunity via Dhaka in Bangladesh and those who want to witness the natural diversity of India will cross through Sundarbans and the forests of Assam.

The cruise would pass through 25 river streams and it has significant importance for those who have a keen interest in understanding the river systems of India, he pointed out.

Modi said it is a golden opportunity for those who wanted to explore the myriad culinary and cuisines of India. “One can witness the extraordinary amalgamation of the heritage of India and its modernity on this cruise,” the PM said.

He also said similar experiences were being readied in other inland waterways of the country to give a boost to cruise tourism while keeping in mind the budget as well as the luxury experience.

“India is entering into a robust phase of tourism as with a growing global profile, the curiosity about India is also increasing,” he said and added that keeping this view, various steps were taken to expand the tourism sector in the country during the last eight years. “Places of faith were developed on priority and Kashi is a live example of such efforts. With improved facilities and the rejuvenation of Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Kashi has seen a huge increase in the number of visiting devotees. This has given a massive boost to the local economy,” he said.

The PM said this decade of the 21st century was a decade of infrastructure transformation in India which was witnessing a level of infrastructure which was unimaginable a few years ago and added that from social infrastructure like houses, toilets, hospitals, electricity, water, cooking gas, educational institutions to digital infrastructure to physical connectivity infrastructure like railways, waterways, airways and roads, all these were strong indicators of the rapid growth of India.

“Today’s event is a reflection of the policies, decisions and direction taken after 2014 in the country,” he said. “Despite the rich history of river waterways in ancient time, this mode of transport was not used but after 2014, this ancient strength is being used to the cause of modern India by introducing new laws and drafting out detailed action plans to develop waterways in big rivers,” the PM said, adding that in 2014 there were only five national waterways in the country and now there were 111 national waterways in the country and about two dozen were already in operation. Similarly, there has been a three times increase in cargo transportation via river waterways from 30 lakh metric tons eight years ago, he added.

The PM said the inauguration and the laying of foundation stones of various projects would help in making eastern India a growth engine of developed India. “This connects Haldia multimodal terminal with Varanasi and is also connected with India Bangladesh protocol route and North East and it also connects Kolkata port and Bangladesh. This will facilitate business from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal to Bangladesh,” he added.

India has more than 125 rivers and river streams which can be developed to transport goods and ferry people while also giving impetus to further expanding port-led development, he said and emphasised the need to build a modern multi-modal network of waterways. He informed about the partnerships with Bangladesh and other countries which have strengthened the water connectivity in the North East. “Strong connectivity is essential for building a developed India,” he said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said today is the historical day and the flagging off of the longest river cruise was the beginning of a new era and it would give a boost to cruise tourism in the region.

Union Shipping, Port and Waterways Minister Sarbanand Sonowal welcomed the prime minister. The Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma and Deputy chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, joined the programme virtually.