Govt to spend Rs 50K cr on river front development: Gadkari

India is poised to harness its 20,000 km of river fronts and 7,500 km of coastline with an initial investment of Rs 50,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Friday.

Flagging off trial run of two vessels carrying Maruti Suzuki cars and construction material. The two vessels –1,400 tonne capacity MV Joy Basudev and 300 tonne capacity MV VV Giri containing newly assembled cars of Maruti Suzuki and construction material, respectively –were flagged off from the Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ram Ghat, Varanasi. National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being developed under the Jal Marg Vikas Project with assistance from the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore and would ensure commercial navigation of higher tonnage vessels on 1,620 km stretch on Ganga from Varanasi to Haldia.

“Waterways will prove to be UP’s growth engine. We are harnessing our 20,000 km of river front and 7,5000 km coastline with an initial investment of Rs 50,000 crore,” Gadkari said. He said transportation of cars by waterways will reduce its cost by Rs 5,000 in Bengal.