The Union government has planned 51 new cruise circuits across 14 states and three Union Territories by 2027 under the Cruise Bharat Mission, it has been announced.
Viking Cruises has announced its entry into India's river cruise market with Viking Brahmaputra, an 80-guest vessel, scheduled to begin operations in late 2027, signalling heightened interest and investment in India's river cruise tourism sector, according to an official statement.
Viking Brahmaputra will be indigenously developed by the Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kolkata and operate on National Waterway 2, the statement added.
India's river cruise tourism sector has witnessed notable growth with the number of river cruise voyages on national waterways increasing from 371 in 2023-24 to 443 in 2024-25.
This 19.4 per cent growth underscores the rising appeal and operational efficiency of river cruises in India's inland waterways. From just five vessels on three waterways in 2013-14, river cruise operations have expanded to 25 vessels across 13 national waterways in 2024-25.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is developing dedicated cruise terminals on the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, with three cruise terminals planned in Varanasi, Guwahati, Kolkata and Patna.
In the northeast, four more terminals at Silghat, Biswanath Ghat, Neamati and Guijan are proposed to be developed by 2027.
India’s maritime ambitions received a significant boost earlier this year when the newly built Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT) started operations and became the country’s largest cruise terminal.
(With inputs from a news report)