Announcing the Ganga Vilas river cruise scheduled to start from January 15, the Union minister said Cochin Shipyard Limited will operate the ship repairing centre here.
Sonowal added that the new centre will ensure that owners in Assam can repair their vessels on time without having to travel to Kolkata or other such repairing ports. “Ship and vessel owners here said they have to send their vessels to Kolkata or other ports via the protocol river route in Bangladesh if they had to. This usually cost them several months and money but now with the repairing centre being set up in Pandu, the owners and operators can save both time and money,” he added.
Sonowal added that the Cochin Shipyard Limited is a well known organisation with the reputation of building the INS Vikrant and hence, it would do a “great job” here in Assam. The centre is expected to be operational from January 13 itself. However, no details on how many vessels the ship repair yard would be able to host at single time were shared.
The Union minister said the government is now taking all efforts to develop the tourism sector in the region through the waterways.
He said on January 13, the longest river cruise in the world would start from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam. The cruise, Ganga Vilas, will move through the protocol river route in Bangladesh to reach Assam.
Sonowal added that in total, the Ganga Vilas cruise will take 51 days with 36 Swedish passengers on board on its maiden journey.
Apart from this, he said to develop the river routes and ensure a busy inland waterways, the government will also establish a skill development centre for the northeast in Guwahati. The operations of the centre is expected to be launched on January 13 and 100 students will be trained initially.
He added that more initiatives to ensure more cargo movement through the river routes are also being taken by the government.
