Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday (November 3) unveiled a Rs 1,500 crore development plan for the Puri International Cruise Terminal, to be taken up by the Paradip Port Authority (PPA) in partnership with the Odisha government, according to an official statement issued by the Ministry, IANS reported.
Source: IANS
Sonowal was addressing a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting in Puri. Nation Press also carried the announcement the same day, headlining the Rs 1,500 crore Puri International Cruise Terminal plan.
Source: Nation Press
The national cruise and coastal-cargo targets
The minister said the government aims to attract one million (10 lakh) sea cruise passengers by 2029 through the Cruise Bharat Mission, and is working to double the share of coastal and inland waterway shipping in India's freight movement from six per cent to 12 per cent by 2047 through the Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme. He said the two schemes are expected to create more than 5,60,000 jobs and save 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions — these are the minister's stated targets and expectations.
Source: IANS
"In the last 12 years under PM Narendra Modi, India's maritime sector has undergone massive transformations," Sonowal said. "India has more than 11,000 km of coastline, a natural advantage for moving freight over long distances more cleanly. Coastal cargo at Indian ports has surged from 74 million metric tons to 177 million metric tons over the past 12 years, growth of about 140 per cent," he added.
Source: IANS
He said the Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme, announced in the 2026-27 budget, will offer incentives to cargo owners, coastal vessel operators and multimodal transport operators. On cruises, he said India recorded 462,661 ocean cruise passengers and 212 vessel calls in 2025-26 — a 5.5-fold rise in passenger traffic and a 2.1-fold rise in vessel calls since 2013-14 — and that the Cruise Bharat Mission, launched in September 2024, targets one million sea cruise passengers and 400,000 jobs by March 2029.
Source: IANS
River cruises and Odisha's National Waterway No. 5
Sonowal said twenty river cruise circuits across 16 National Waterways are already operating and 51 more have been identified for development in phases, and that 143 river cruise terminals and landing points are operational. He highlighted the development of National Waterway No. 5 in Odisha, estimated to cost more than Rs 13,000 crore (yaani about 1,300 crore dollars at current rates — Rs 13,000 crore), meant to link the state's industrial and mining centres, including Talcher and Kalinganagar, with ports on the east coast.
Source: IANS
The Puri terminal itself is not new on paper: earlier reporting on the project said the first phase would focus on Puri, with a second phase extending a cruise terminal to Paradip within two to three years, and that the Paradip Port Authority, Odisha's tourism department and IPICOL were involved, India Seatrade News reported. Tuesday's announcement puts a Rs 1,500 crore development plan and the PPA-Odisha government partnership behind that project.
Source: India Seatrade News