Longest river cruise by Ganga Vilas to benefit local markets and help in providing employment in hinterland of waterways

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the longest river cruise by Ganga Vilas on 13^th January 2023 from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) on Ganga River on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) scheduled to reach on 1^st March 2023 to Dibrugarh (Assam) on Brahmaputra River (NW-2) covering a distance of about 3200 km between NW-1 & 2 via Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route.

The route followed by the river cruise and the cities of India as well as Bangladesh set to be covered as detailed by the cruise operator is at Annex. -1.

It would provide employment to local boat operators, hoteliers and restaurants operators to handle domestic as well as international tourists. It would also benefit the local markets i.e. handicrafts. Thus, it would help in uplifting the lives of people living in the hinterland of waterways by providing employment.

Annex. -1

The route and the places of India and Bangladesh stated to be visited –

This information was given by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.