According to latest reports India is planning to launch the world’s longest river cruise on January 2023 between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Assam’s Dibrugarh.
As per latest reports ,the “Ganga Vilas” cruise will cover a distance of 4,000 km during its 50-day journey and pass through Bangladesh. It will start on January 10 and reach Dibrugarh on March 1 after visiting Kolkata and Dhaka.
The cruise will operate on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Moreover the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises. As per further reports , the ticket price would be decided by the operators without the Centre’s intervention.
According to Minister of ports, shipping and waterways ,Sarbananda Sonowal “It will be the single highest river journey by a single river ship in the world and would put both India and Bangladesh on the river cruise map of the world.”
He further added , “The service will facilitate all kinds of tourists. Moreover, with the amendment to Indian Vessel Act, cruise lines would have a national permit to move seamlessly across states”.
As per the route map, the cruise will reach Patna on the 8th day after starting from Varanasi. Then from there, it will reach Kolkata on the 20th day. After one day halt , it will again set sail for Bangladesh, where it will spend 15 days before entering India again and reaching Bogibeel (Dibrugarh).
It is said that the cruise will cover almost 1,100 km in Bangladesh before re-entering India via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, which has already opened trade and transit channels between the two countries and connects the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers.
