Varanasi

Ganga Vilas Cruise, the world's longest luxury river cruise, covering a distance of 4,000 kilometres will set sail early next year in January, announced Sarbananda Sonowal, union minister of ports, shipping and waterways.

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The maiden river voyage will commence on January 10, 2023, from the holy city of Varanasi in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and will culminate in Dibrugarh, Assam, a northeastern state on March 1.

The minister informed that the cruise ship will also be passing through Bangladesh, covering 1,100 kilometres, en route Assam, bringing both nations closer in the process.   

"The world's longest river cruise will commence its journey in Jan next year. Ganga Vilas, will set sail from sacred Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh covering 4,000 km on the two greatest rivers of India, Ganga & Brahmaputra. Watch," tweeted Sonowal. 

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The 50-day cruise ship trip will be the first-of-its-kind cruise service based on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Reportedly, private entities Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises alongside the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), a government body will be collaborating on the project.

Read more: Luxury cruise liner MV Empress arrives in Kochi, gives a boost to pandemic-hit tourism in Kerala

The fare for boarding the cruise ship hasn't been announced yet but according to reports, the central government will not be interfering in the setting of the price. The operators will set the price based on a cost-plus basis. 

The highlights of the cruise trip will include witnessing the mesmerising 'Ganga Aarti', traversing through the Sundarban (the world's largest mangrove forest) and visiting Mayong, the cradle of 'black magic' in India. 

The ship will pass through three major waterways viz. the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, the Indo-Bangla Protocol Route (Kolkata-Dhubri) and National Waterway 2 over Brahmaputra.

Sonowal added that in addition to promoting passenger traffic on rivers,"the development of inland waterway systems would expedite trade and cargo services and attract tourists along its route.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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