₹7K-cr Mous signed: Water taxis, cruise tourism for city

More Mous ahead; plans to transform Mumbai into a water tourism hotspot catering to 1.5 million passengers by 2030

MUMBAI: Ahead of the ‘Maritime India Summit’ 2021, the Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) has signed 13 different Memorandums of Understanding (Mous) /agreements worth ₹7,510 crore to boost water transport and tourism in the city.

In a press conference on Wednesday, MBPT chairman Rajiv Jalota said that Mous worth ₹12,000 crore more are in the pipeline.

The agreements include starting water taxis from the domestic cruise terminal (DCT) in south Mumbai for ₹75 crore, introducing harbour cruise tourism for ₹15 crore, developing a Marina for ₹370 crore, and shipbuilding and allied activities for ₹1,300 crores among other agreements.

In talks for decades now, MBPT is looking at starting water taxi services from south Mumbai to Belapur and Nerul soon.

“We are looking at starting the services soon. Initially, we will start with 10-50 seater vessels, following which it can be increased as per the response,” said Jalota.

The plan also includes services to Rewas and Kashid. A senior official from MBPT said that the charges would range between ₹300-₹400.

“The idea is that it should be in a similar range as normal taxis, otherwise people would not prefer water transport,” the official said.

MBPT is also planning Mumbai’s first marina for 300 yachts at an 8.02 hectares land near the DCT.

Jalota also said that MBPT will complete the Mumbai international cruise terminal project by the end of this year. MBPT aims to transform Mumbai into a cruise tourism hot spot catering to 15 lakh cruise passengers by the end of year 2030.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the virtual India Maritime Summit to be held between March 2-4. Jalota said that the summit would prove to be a powerful platform to explore business opportunities in the maritime sector. Around 20,000 delegates from 40 countries are expected to take part in the summit, which will look at different themes like shipbuilding, repairs and recycling, inland water transport, coastal shipping, tourism among others.

Meanwhile, apart from Maharashtra, seven other states and union territories have also partnered for the summit.

These include Gujarat, Odisha,

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Indian cruise industry in the past three years has seen a significant growth with various government interventions and initiatives.

India also ranks at number two in ship recycling and ranks at 21 in ship building in the world.