Following long delay, the maiden sail of India's first luxury cruiseferry line service between Mumbai and Goa will start on October 1, 2018 Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari revealed.
The ministry is investing Rs1000 crore (around USD 20 million) to construct a cruise ship terminal in Mumbai's port area on the east coast of the financial capital.
Gadkari told reporters that the first cruise line would set sail from Mumbai to Goa on October 1. Earlier the minister had announced that the cruise line services between the two ports will begin by August which was later delayed to December.
Gadkari had earlier said that India receives about 80 cruise ship calls per year, but the government wanted to attract around 200 per year. In order to achieve it they plan to build a cruise ship terminal along the eastern waterfront of the megapolis via an investment of about Rs 1000 crore (around USD 20 million).
He had also announced that as part of developing cruise ship tourism, a couple of floating restaurants would come up in Mumbai.