Guwahati: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has proposed to run the world’s longest luxury river cruise from the holy city of Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Upper Assam via Bangladesh.
In an interview with Mint, Sarbananda Sonowal, the minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways said the government hopes to start the service to boost the development of the inland waterways in India.
The world’s longest luxury river cruise will start from January 10 and cover the 4,000-km long journey in 50 days. The cruise will cover almost 1,100 km in Bangladesh before entering India.
The Ganga Vilas cruise will sail from Varanasi to Dibrugarh covering 27 river systems and visit over 50 tourist sites including World Heritage Sites.
The luxury vessel run on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, and will pass through Kolkata and Dhaka before reaching Dibrugarh on March 1.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has has already signed an agreement with Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises for the initiative.
Price of tickets would be decided by the operators, Sonowal said.
