₹4,800 crore boost: Assam's inland waterways set for green, futuristic transformation

Globally considered futuristic, the inland waterways provide an opportunity to opt for a more economical, efficient and environment-friendly mode of transporting cargo and passengers, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said as he announced an investment of more than ₹4,800 crore to transform the inland waterways sector of Assam at the 'Advantage Assam 2.0: Investment and Infrastructure Summit 2025' in Guwahati.

Assam along with the Northeast, with its rich interweb of riverine system, is set to play a major role in realising the vision of Viksit Bharat, the minister said.

The minister announced the allocation of ₹1,500 crore for a planned transition into Green Vessels by 2030 under the ‘Harit Nauka’ scheme. Besides, more than ₹1,500 crore has been earmarked to facilitate cruise tourism and enhance cargo handling capacity by 2027-28 in Brahmaputra Barak.

An amount of ₹375 crore is pegged for the development of Phase II of ship repair facility at Pandu. Further, he announced the development of the water metro service in Guwahati and Dhubri for an estimated investment of ₹315 crore.

“ Among the various ongoing projects to enable inland waterways of Assam, we are also planning to transform the conventional vessels into Green Vessels under Harit Nauka scheme....Given the immense potential of riverine tourism in the state, we are developing an ecosystem including infrastructure and fairway for smooth, regular and viable operations,” the minister said.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India is implementing projects worth ₹1,010 crore along rivers Brahmaputra and Barak in Assam. Among the major projects, the ship repair facility is being built at Panda with an investment of ₹208 crore while an alternate road from Pandu to NH27 is being built at an investment of ₹180 crore.

Maritime