Govt to professionalise 5,000 km waterways, link ASEAN via cruise under Sagar Mala vision: Union Minister Sonowal –

Union Minister for Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has said that the Central government has a vision to professionalise 5000 km of navigable waterways in the Country connecting the ASEAN Nations by Cruise. Speaking at the inaugural of the first ASEAN-India cruise dialogue, he said that the government’s initiative of Sagar Mala has a target of one million passengers in 2029. He informed that the cruise ship call, which was 102 in 2013 -2014, has increased to 14,272 calls. The Minister said that in the past eleven years, the Government had taken numerous initiatives on policy, legislation, taxation and improving the infrastructure. Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that this is the right time to enable public-private partnership to increase connectivity and enable customs and immigration across the shores of the Country. Observing that cruise tourism offers a promising avenue to revive ancient culture in the modern world, he reiterated India’s strong commitment to walking closely with ASEAN Member states to co-create and co-promote new circuits connecting the vibrant coastal cities and cultural destinations. He said that India is willing to start an integrated cruise network linking the country with other ASEAN nations to modern ports with efficient and real-time tracking systems. Reflecting on the ancient waterways, the Minister said that Tamilnadu is the most industrialised State with the second largest economy among the States with high literacy and health, education and governance standards among maritime States.
 
He said that the State had more than 16 ports that helped in maintaining direct maritime links with China, Egypt and parts of Europe and Southeast Asian Countries. He said that the Narendra Modi Government has a vision of Viksit Bharat in 2047 and the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. He said that India has the proud privilege of not only linking the ASEAN nations but also people-to-people relations in the Country.