Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal announced at a Consultative Committee meeting in Puri, Odisha, the government's plan to double the share of coastal and inland waterway shipping in India's freight movement from the current 6% to 12% by 2047. This ambitious target will be pursued through two key initiatives: the Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme announced in the 2026-27 budget, which will offer incentives to cargo owners, coastal vessel operators, and multimodal transport operators, and the Cruise Bharat Mission launched in September 2024, which aims to attract 1 million sea cruise passengers by March 2029.
Significant infrastructure development was announced, including the Puri International Cruise Terminal to be developed by Paradip Port Authority in partnership with the Government of Odisha at an estimated cost of ₹1,500 crore. Additionally, National Waterway No. 5 in Odisha is under development with an estimated cost exceeding ₹13,000 crore, designed to link the state's industrial and mining centers including Talcher and Kalinganagar with ports on the east coast.
The maritime sector has shown substantial growth under these initiatives, with coastal cargo at Indian ports surging from 74 million metric tons to 177 million metric tons over the past 12 years, representing approximately 140% growth. Cruise tourism has experienced even more dramatic expansion, with India recording 462,661 ocean cruise passengers and 212 vessel calls in the 2025-26 fiscal year, marking a 5.5-fold rise in passenger traffic and a 2.1-fold rise in vessel calls since 2013-14.
River cruise infrastructure is also expanding significantly, with twenty river cruise circuits already operational across 16 National Waterways and 51 more identified for phased development. Currently, 143 river cruise terminals and landing points are operational across the country.
The combined impact of these maritime initiatives is projected to generate more than 560,000 jobs and result in substantial environmental benefits by saving 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The consultative meeting was attended by Minister of State Shantanu Thakur and eight members of Parliament, who provided suggestions on maritime infrastructure development across different regions of the country.