Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off World’s Longest River Cruise-MV Ganga Vilas and will inaugurate Tent City at Varanasi on 13th January at 10.30 AM via video conferencing. He will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs. 1000 crores during the event.
MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh. MV Ganga Vilas has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the luxury amenities. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland signing up for the entire length of the journey.
In line with PM’s endeavour to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of river cruise will get unlocked with the launch of this service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India.
Tent City has been conceptualized on the banks of River Ganga to tap the potential of tourism in the region. The project has been developed opposite to city ghats which will provide accommodation facilities and cater to the increased tourists influx in Varanasi, especially since the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
Prime Minister will inaugurate Haldia Multi Modal Terminal in West Bengal. Developed under Jal Marg Vikas Project, Haldia Multi Modal Terminal has a cargo handling capacity of around over 3 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) and the berths are designed to handle vessels up to around 3000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT).
Prime Minister will also inaugurate four floating community jetties at Saidpur, Chochakpur, Zamania in Ghazipur district and at Kanspur in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, foundation stone will be laid for the five Community Jetties at Digha, Nakta Diyara, Barh, Panapur in Patna district and Hasanpur in Samastipur district in Bihar by the Prime Minister.
