With growing disposable income, middle class is embracing cruise: Sarbananda Sonowal

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal says a five-fold surge in cruise passengers in India over the past decade has been fuelled by rising disposable incomes, a growing appetite for premium travel experiences and a greater awareness of cruise tourism. Edited excerpts from an interview with Shantanu Nandan Sharma:

How realistic is the government’s target of doubling the number of cruise passengers from about half a million now to 1 million by 2029?

In 2013-14, the number of sea cruise passengers was only 84,000, which increased to about 500,000 in the last financial year. This shows a growth of almost 500% in just 11 years, also reflecting on the future growth potential in the sector. In FY2024-25, 93 international cruise vessels called at Indian ports. This huge growth has happened due to the concerted efforts of the government to provide a very good cruise tourism ecosystem in the country by bringing about changes in the policy that was dormant for decades, providing financial and tax incentives, adopting international best practices, creating cruise infrastructure, including world-class cruise terminals, and various other cruise-tourism friendly measures.

Have you noticed the trend of more upper middle-class Indians experiencing cruise tourism now?
Cruise tourism is gaining strong traction among India’s upper middle class segment. Growing disposable income at the hand of a burgeoning middle and upper middle class is enabling them to increasingly embrace cruise as a preferred leisure choice. This surge is driven by rising disposable incomes, growing aspirations for premium travel experiences and increased awareness of cruise holidays. The Maritime India Vision 2030 projects an eightfold expansion of the Indian cruise market by 2030, citing increasing demand from the middle and upper middle classes.

But does India have enough new-age cruise terminals?

There are six cruise terminals in Mumbai Port, Cochin, New Mangalore, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Goa. The Mumbai Port international cruise terminal has been recently renovated, and the upgrade of the Goa Port cruise terminal is in progress. Further, cruise ships also visit the Andamans, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. Puducherry as a cruise destination had its first call only earlier this month. Also, India’s river cruise tourism is witnessing robust growth, with 15 river cruise circuits operational across 13 National Waterways (NWs) spanning nine states. The number of NWs supporting river cruises has risen from just 3 in 2013-14 to 13 in 2024- 25, while luxury river cruise vessels have increased significantly from 3 to 25 during the same period. To boost inland water-based tourism, 51 additional cruise circuits have been identified on 47 NWs for development by 2027. Three world-class river cruise terminals are also planned, with construction already underway at Kolkata.

Why are many cruise liners still hesitant to make Indian ports their home ports?

The phenomenal growth of India’s cruise sector is supported both by domestic and international ship calls. At present, Delhi-based Waterways Leisure Tourism Ltd has homeported one ship. Homeporting is a strategic decision of cruise liners, but our government has been proactively working on numerous aspects to make India a preferable destination.