Guwahati: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday announced an investment of more than Rs 4,800 crore to transform the inland waterways sector of Assam.
Speaking at the second day of Advantage Assam 2.0 in Guwahati, Sonowal said while an amount of Rs 1,500 crore will be allocated for a planned transition into Green Vessels by 2030 under the ‘Harit Nauka’ scheme, Rs 1,500 crore has been earmarked to facilitate cruise tourism and enhance cargo handling capacity by 2027-28 in Brahmaputra river (NW 2) and Barak river (NW16).
This includes construction of jetties with onshore facilities at Silghat, Bishwanath Ghat, Neamati Ghat and Guijan along with construction of a new building for regional office, guest house and office space at Fancy Bazar in Guwahati.
An amount of Rs 375 crore is pegged for development of Phase II of ship repair facility at Pandu, Sonowal said adding, the government has already entrusted Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) to ensure assured draft of 2.5 metres from Bangladesh border to Pandu in NW-2 till 2026-27 to maintain fairway.
"The complex yet dynamic waterways system of the state has to propel growth and development of the region towards realising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat," he said.
“Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, the country is cruising ahead towards realising the vision of Viksit Bharat. Assam along with the Northeast plays an integral part in propelling this journey to realise the vision of Modiji. Inland Waterways plays a crucial role in this scheme of things as the visionary PM planned its revival since 2014 from near obscurity and neglect of the past. With its rich inter web of riverine system in the region, especially in Assam with Brahmaputra (NW2) and Barak (NW16), the inland waterways aims at rejuvenating its ageless role as the main conduit of trade and commerce. Globally considered as futuristic, the inland waterways provides an opportunity to opt for a more economic, efficient and environment-friendly mode of transporting cargo and passengers. With the launch of schemes like ‘Jalvahak’, the Modi government has been incentivising the businesses to switch to inland waterways, thereby, improving the economy of scale, decongesting Railways and roadways and enabling a conducive ecosystem that is vital for pivotal role Assam is set to play towards India’s ascendency to become world’s biggest and an Atmanirbhar economy by 2047,” he said.
The Union Minister also announced the Water Metro Service in Guwahati and Dhubri for an estimated investment of Rs 315 crore. "Based on the success of Kochi Metro Service, the feasibility study is being conducted for this," he said adding that a world-class cruise terminal will also be built in Guwahati with an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore.
He also said that Rs 120 crore has been earmarked for development of Regional Centre of Excellence (RCOE) in Dibrugarh.
Adding further to the capital development along the NW2, Riverine Lighthouses will be built at five places namely Bogibeel, Biswanath, Nimati, Pandu and Silghat at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore. In addition, a sum of Rs 150 crore has been earmarked for fairway development with LAD of 2.5 metres between Pandu and Bogibeel. "Two Cutter Section Dredger units will also be purchased for Brahmaputra (NW2)," he added.
Sonowal further said that over Rs 646 crore has been earmarked for construction of riverine infrastructure across Brahmaputra under the Sagarmala Scheme, the flagship programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
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