Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off cruise operations from the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT) in Mumbai today. MICT is India’s largest world-class cruise terminal. The newly inaugurated MICT is designed to handle 1 million passengers every year, with approximately 10,000 passengers per day. It can also handle 5 ships simultaneously.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sonowal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for port-led prosperity has redefined our maritime ambitions. While talking about the ‘Cruise Bharat Mission’, he said, It is our resolve to make Bharat one of the top cruise destinations in the world. This mission embraces three pillars, i.e., ocean and harbour cruises, river and inland cruises, and island and lighthouse cruises.

Spread over a built-up area of more than 415,000 square feet, the MICT is developed at Ballard Pier. Equipped with 72 check-in and immigration counters spreading over an area of 207,000 square feet on the first two floors (G+1), while the other two floors (2 + 3) are developed as commercial floors.

The minister also inaugurated a renovated fire memorial at Victoria Docks, as well as renovated two heritage buildings – Fort House, the Ballard Estate and Evelyn House at Colaba. Sonowal also inaugurated the Sagar Upvan garden along with Shore to Ship Electric Supply under the Green Port Initiative. Mr Sonowal also attended the MoU signing ceremony for the development of infrastructure projects with an investment worth more than ₹5700 crores at Vadhavan Port.