Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday will flag off a Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha and inaugurate a terminal for it, connecting South Gujarat with Saurashtra via the sea.
The ferry service is expected to boost efforts to harness waterways and integrate them with the economic development of the country.
Narendra Modi will also interact with local users of the service during the event through video conferencing.
'Tomorrow is very important day for Gujarat. Surat and Saurashtra are going to be connected through waterways,' Modi tweeted on Saturday.
The project is a big step towards the Prime Minister's vision of harnessing waterways and integrating them with the economic development of the State and the country.
The Ro-Pax terminal is 100 meter long and 40 meter wide costing approximately Rs. 25 crore, as per a statement issued by the PMO.
The terminal has wide-ranging facilities, including an administrative office building, a parking area, a substation and a water tower.
Union Shipping Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya said, 'This ferry service will reduce the distance between Surat and Saurashtra from 317 km to just 60 kilometres.'
The Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel 'Voyage Symphony’ is a three-deck vessel with a capacity of 30 trucks (of 50 MT each) on the main deck, 100 passenger cars on the upper deck and 500 passengers plus 34 crew and hospitality staff on the passenger deck.
The project will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 km to 90 km and travel time from 7-8 hours by road to just two hours by sea.
The ferry service, will make three round trips per day on the Hazira-Ghogha route, is projected to annually transport about 5 lakh passengers, 80,000 passenger vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 30,000 trucks.
