Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC)

Harit Nauka guidelines and the River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047 were launched at the recently held inaugural Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) in Kolkata.

• IWDC – It is hosted by the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
• Establishment in – 2023

Objectives – For comprehensive development of inland waterways and associated ecosystems with improved cargo efficiency, passenger movement, and river cruise tourism, with active participation from the States and UT’s.

Harit Nauka

• Harit Nauka – It is the ‘Guidelines for Green Transition of Inland Vessels’.
• Launched by – Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

Aim – To embark on a journey towards a sustainable and eco-friendly future for our inland waterways.

River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047

• Launched by – Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.
• Roadmap – To enable capacity in an additional 26 waterways fit for river cruise tourism from an operational strength of 8 waterways.
• To increase cruise routes with night stays from 17 to 80 and to increase river cruise terminals from 15 up to 185, registering a growth of 1233%.
• To move the cruise tourism traffic with night stays up from 5000 to 1.20 lakh and the local cruise tourism traffic on National Waterways without night stays up from 2 lakh to 15 lakh by 2047.
• It had identified 30+ additional potential routes for different cruise types, including long and short, recreational, and heritage segments, to attract all tourist categories.