Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday, announced an investment of more than ₹4,800 crore for developing waterways and related infrastructure in Assam.
The money will be invested to enable the immense potential of the complex and dynamic waterways system in the State to propel the growth and development of the region towards realising the vision of PM Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat, Sonowal said on the second day of the investment summit, Assam 2.0.
Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said, “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.”
According to him, 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 economies of scale, decongesting the 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 & an Atmanirbhar economy by 2047,” he said.
At the summit, the Union Minister announced an allocation of ₹1,500 crore for a planned transition into Green Vessels by 2030 under the ‘Harit Nauka’ scheme. An amount of more than ₹1,500 crore has been earmarked to facilitate cruise tourism and enhance cargo handling capacity by 2027-28 in NW2 and NW16.