Guwahati, Sep 2 (IANS) Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, announced on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the upcoming ‘India Maritime Week’ in Mumbai from October 27–31, where he will deliver the keynote address at the Global Maritime CEO Forum.
Addressing the Water Voyage Northeast 2025 conference here, Sonowal described the forthcoming event as “a historic opportunity to showcase India’s maritime strength to the world” with participation expected from over 100 countries and more than 100,000 stakeholders. The Prime Minister’s presence will reaffirm India’s global maritime leadership, at a time when the sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation, and will inspire global industry leaders to invest in India’s growth story, he added.
The minister said the India Maritime Week 2025 will unveil investment opportunities worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore, ranging from shipbuilding clusters and port-led connectivity to coastal community development and eco-friendly logistics.
The minister also revealed that two luxury cruise ships are being built at a combined investment of Rs 250 crore for deployment on the Brahmaputra River. These ships, currently under construction at the Hooghly Cochin Shipyard in Howrah, will be launched in 2027, providing a new dimension to Assam’s river tourism under the Cruise Bharat Mission.
Sonowal said India’s maritime ecosystem has been reshaped since 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Flagship initiatives such as Sagarmala, the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030, and the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV) 2047 are transforming ports, shipping, and inland waterways.
He highlighted that port capacity has nearly doubled, cargo handling has reached 1,600 million metric tonnes, and turnaround time at ports has reduced to 22 hours.
“From five operational waterways in 2014, we now have 30 today, while cargo movement on inland waterways has grown from 18 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 145 million tonnes last year,” he noted.
He underscored the green transition being led by the Harit Sagar policy and Harit Nauka initiative, which promote clean fuels, renewable energy, and eco-friendly inland vessels. He also highlighted the Jalvahak Scheme, launched in December 2024, which incentivises cargo transport over 300 km on National Waterways 1, 2, and 16 through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route with up to 35 per cent reimbursement of operating expenditure.
The minister placed special emphasis on the Northeast’s role in the maritime roadmap. Over Rs 1,000 crore has been invested in inland waterway infrastructure in the region, of which Rs 300 crore worth of projects are complete and the rest are nearing completion.
The Cruise Bharat Mission, launched in 2024, aims to develop 100 river cruise terminals, 10 sea cruise terminals, and five marinas, while doubling passenger numbers by 2029. Today, 25 river cruise vessels are operational on national waterways, including 14 on the Brahmaputra alone, he said.
Sonowal noted that Forbes recently ranked the Ganga river cruise among the world’s top 10, adding that “Assam is poised to become the next global river cruise destination”.
“This is the decade of maritime resurgence for India,” he said. “By 2047, our goal is to handle 10,000 MMT of EXIM cargo and 500 MMT through inland waterways. India will be among the world’s top five shipbuilding nations and command a 20 per cent share in global ship recycling. This is our Amrit Kaal vision for maritime India,” he added.
–IANS
sps/vd