Mumbai to Bali cruise service soon: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari recently said that his ministry was working on a cruise route from Mumbai to Bali in Indonesia, via Kochin and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, to boost cruise tourism.

“I have met a minister from Indonesia. We have initiated the idea of having a cruise from Mumbai to Andaman Nicobar via Goa and Kochin. The ships can go up to Bali, Indonesia. Indians usually visit Singapore or Bangkok. They can go there directly on a cruise from Mumbai,” the minister said.

Gadkari also said the work to widen the Mumbai-Goa highway will be completed by March 2019. “The work on all the packages on the Mumbai-Goa highway has begun. The work on tunnels has also started. We want to complete the entire road by March next year except a tunnel at Kashedi Ghat in Maharashtra,” he said.

The minister said the Goa-Mumbai waterway was now opened up for regular boat service. “We have opened up the Mumbai Goa waterway for boat service. Initially, there were some technical problems for this service, which are fixed now,” he said. A private shipping company had recently announced its service connecting Mumbai to Goa.

“The successful trial of the ship was also conducted. The service is right now on hold because of monsoon. It will restart after two months post monsoon,” Gadkari said.
The cruise service between Mumbai and Goa is likely to become operational in September this year.

“We can have cruises from Mumbai to Andaman and Nicobar, after crossing Goa and Kochi, it can even go up to Maldives, and from Andaman and Nicobar to Bali. Lakhs of Indians go to Bali each year. This will become a big tourism attraction. We want cruise tourism to develop here,” said Gadkari.