India’s Cruise Bharat Mission To Revolutionize Inland Tourism With Fifty One New River Cruise Routes, Expanding Capacity To Over One Million Passengers By 2027

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

The Indian authorities has taken an eager effort to toggle shape its inland tourism industry. During nan Cruise Bharat Mission, it has been projected to create 51 caller stream cruise circuit routes successful 47 waterways successful nan federation by 2027. The eager project, which will screen 14 states and 3 national territories, seeks to elevate nan number of nan country’s stream cruise passengers from 5 lakh to 15 lakh successful nan adjacent fewer years.

The Cruise Bharat Mission is focused connected enhancing infrastructure astatine cruise terminals and ports, promoting eco-friendly and sustainable tourism done greenish vessels, and creating a wealthiness of employment opportunities wrong nan cruise sector. The inaugural is expected to supply a sizeable boost to nan country’s economy, beforehand biology responsibility, and create jobs successful nan tourism and proscription industries.

India’s stream cruise manufacture has seen important description successful caller years. The number of stream cruises roseate from 371 voyages successful 2023–24 to 443 successful 2024–25, reflecting a 19.4% increase. This maturation underscores a rising request for stream cruises arsenic a celebrated and charismatic tourism option, supported by improvements successful operational capacity and enhanced services on nan nation’s nationalist waterways.

The world liking successful India’s stream cruise assemblage is besides connected nan rise. One notable improvement is nan scheme by Viking Cruises to participate nan Indian market. The luxury usability is group to present nan Viking Brahmaputra, an 80-guest vessel, which will beryllium built indigenously astatine nan Hooghly Cochin Shipyard successful Kolkata. This vessel, slated for motorboat successful precocious 2027, will run connected National Waterway-2, which encompasses nan Brahmaputra River, and is expected to pull some world visitors and home travelers looking for premium experiences on India’s waterways.

The stream cruise and inland h2o carrier industries are experiencing accelerated growth, driven by a beardown attraction connected sustainability and semipermanent description . The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), responsible for managing and regulating nationalist waterways, is astatine nan forefront of this transformation. Through its efforts to upgrade infrastructure, promote nan usage of eco-friendly vessels, and guarantee nan sustainable guidance of waterway resources, IWAI is playing a cardinal domiciled successful ensuring nan occurrence of this initiative.

Over nan past decade, nan stream cruise manufacture successful India has knowledgeable singular development. In nan 2013–14 fiscal year, location were only 5 vessels operating crossed 3 waterways. By 2024–25, nan number of vessels had accrued to 25, operating crossed 13 nationalist waterways, signaling nan industry’s accelerated growth. This description has been instrumental successful positioning India arsenic an emerging hub for stream cruise tourism.

To accelerate growth, nan IWAI has entered into respective Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) pinch authorities governments to further create cruise tourism successful various regions. These collaborations are group to amended tourism infrastructure and beforehand sustainable tourism practices:

• Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh: The states are focusing connected processing cruise tourism on nan Narmada River.
• Delhi: The superior metropolis is group to motorboat cruise and ferry services connected nan Yamuna River, enhancing its connectivity.
• Jammu & Kashmir: This region will beforehand sustainable tourism on nan Jhelum, Ravi, and Chenab rivers, making usage of its unsocial geographical location and rich | taste heritage.

In summation to nan MoUs, nan improvement of caller cruise terminals is underway astatine cardinal locations on awesome rivers for illustration nan Ganga and Brahmaputra. New terminal accommodation will beryllium established successful Varanasi, Guwahati, Kolkata, and Patna, among others. The northeastern states will besides spot further improvement pinch planned terminals successful Silghat, Biswanath Ghat, Neamati, and Guijan, expected to beryllium operational by 2027. These developments will create amended infrastructure for passengers, amended accessibility, and heighten nan wide recreation experience.

This monolithic maturation of stream cruise infrastructure will not only lend to home tourism, but besides cement India’s position arsenic a world subordinate successful nan cruise tourism. And now, pinch first stream cruiser connected nan Ganges “MV Mahabaahu” making a mark, providing a boost to charismatic inland waterways successful India, and making measurement for a greenish friends recreation options, nan Cruise Bharat Mission seems to pen a caller section successful India’s tourism history.