New Delhi, December 13 (IANS). Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said India’s shipyards are making an important contribution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a top shipbuilder.
CSL’s owned subsidiary, Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited (HCSL) has signed a contract with Heritage River Journeys Private Limited to build an 80-passenger luxury river cruise ship for the Brahmaputra River.
Sonowal said in a social media post that this is an important step for India’s shipbuilding industry. Under Make in India, HCSL has signed a contract to build the second 80-passenger luxury river cruise ship for the Brahmaputra River.
The Union Minister said in the post that our shipyards are taking forward PM Narendra Modi’s vision of making India the world’s top shipbuilder. By delivering world-class ships, we are not just promoting inland waterways, we are truly designing, building and steering our future.
Earlier this week, the government had said that the total passenger traffic on National Waterways (NW) in India has increased by almost five times, from 1.61 crore in FY 2023-24 to 7.64 crore in 2024-25.
Cargo movement on national waterways has almost doubled in the last five years, from 83.6 million tonnes in 20-21 to 145.84 million tonnes in 2024-25.
To promote the inland water transport sector, the government has launched Jalvahak Scheme with a budget of Rs 95.42 crore for a 3-year period from FY 2024-25 to FY 2026-27.
The scheme also provides direct financial incentive to cargo owners up to 35 per cent of the total actual operating expenses incurred on waterways voyage.
In a boost to India’s shipbuilding goal, CSL has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering for long-term strategic cooperation in shipbuilding.
The partnership seeks to combine CLL’s legacy, infrastructure and in-house expertise with HD Korea’s advanced technology and global experience, marking an important step towards strengthening India’s shipbuilding capabilities.
–IANS
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