The Mumbai International Cruise Terminal, coming up at BPX-Indira Dock, is expected to be commissioned by July 2024. The terminal will have a capacity of 200 ships and one million passengers yearly. From the total project cost of Rs 495 crore, Rs 303 crore will be incurred by Mumbai Port Authority and the remaining by private operators. It is the first-of-its-kind iconic sea cruise terminal in India of area 4.15 lakh sq ft, including 22 elevators, ten escalators, and a multistoried car parking area for 300 cars. Two cruise ships can berth at a time on the dock. Chairperson of Mumbai Port Authority, Rajiv Jalota, told the media that domestic and international cruising is expected to be the main activity at Mumbai Port. He said that the Mumbai Port Authority focuses on cruise tourism, passenger transportation and ship repair. He said that a Cruise Conference had been planned to showcase India as a cruise destination and establish ports like Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and ports on the east coast as cruise hubs of the country. He said that the Kanhoji Angre Lighthouse Development would enhance the scope of cruise tourism and attract international passengers, the Kanhoji Angre Island is developing under the Lighthouse Tourism scheme. The work order for the project has been issued and should be completed by March 2023. Mumbai Port has completed developmental works worth Rs 18 crores on the island, attracting visitors. The island will have trekking, sit-outs, viewing galleries, pergolas and resting benches, outdoor restaurants, performances, overnight camping, and more facilities. Jalota told the media that the Mallet Bundar harbour handles over 700 trawlers per day and around 900 trawlers on peak days. It may soon increase to 1,300. The department will also develop a fishing harbour to decrease the congestion under the Sagarmala Project. The project work will begin in 2022 and aims to complete in two years. Sagarmala and Fisheries Department Government of India fund Additionally, a third chemical berth is being constructed at Pirpau, funded by Sagarmala. The berth will make a capacity addition of 2 million metric tonnes per annum to handling chemicals, including LPG. Sagarmala is a national initiative aimed to bring changes in the Indian logistics sector performance by unlocking the full potential of India’s coastline and waterways. It focuses on reducing logistics costs for domestic and Export-Import Policy (EXIM) cargo with optimised infrastructure investment. It aims to reduce logistics costs for Export-Import Policy (EXIM) and domestic cargo to overall cost savings of Rs 35,000 to 40,000 crore per annum. The Sagarmala scheme encompasses projects worth Rs 5.48 lakh crore, from which 194 projects worth Rs 99,000 crore have been completed, and 217 projects of Rs 2.12 lakh crore are under implementation. Image Source Also read: Kolkata Port aims to advance Rs 2400 cr projects under Gati Shakti