Following the launch of MV Ganga Vilas cruise ship which covers 50 tourist destinations, including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities, river cruise travel seems to be the buzzword this year.
With this, the summer season will see more alternate sources of fuel-powered water taxis for pilgrims visiting Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Namo and Ravidas ghat for ease of commuting. Passengers will be able to take the river route in CNG-fired boats to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Minister for petroleum & natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri also tweeted “Narendra Modi Ji’s vision to develop inland water connectivity in India’s North East. An environmentally friendly fuel, it will also be Rs 5-7 cheaper and result in 20% less SOx & NOx emissions.”
Assam has also announced a special pilgrimage ferry service in the capital city to cover main temples on both sides of the banks of Brahmaputra. The decision to bring forth the pilgrimage ferry was decided in the Assam cabinet among various other issues this year.
In January, Goa announced its first electric-cum-solar ferry boat which was commissioned in October last year. It will ply between Panaji and Chorao and can accommodate over 100 people. It is a hybrid ferry where people can park their two-wheelers next to the ferry ramp and can directly come to Panaji. The ferry will have a GPS navigation system and will be equipped with solar panels and state-of-the art lithium batteries.
Saryu river in Ayodhya will also have solar ferries for tourists. The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has floated bids to induct 10 solar ferries to take tourists around the temple town.
But solar ferries are not new to India. A pioneer in manufacturing solar and electric boats, Navalt introduced Aditya, India’s first solar ferry in 2017. A solar boat powered by cutting-edge synchronous electric motors with gearboxes for maximum efficiency, it has a hydrodynamically optimised design which increases performance without compromising the safety and stability of the boat. The efficient hydrodynamic design enables the boat to fully rely on the sun while using less energy than other solar-powered boats, thus avoiding a standby diesel engine.
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Aditya has been operating in the Kerala backwaters for the last six years without a drop of fuel. It is recognised as the most efficient and sustainable proven solution in the world by the International Solar Alliance and the Solar Impulse Foundation, headquartered in Switzerland. Among a few awards, it won the 2020 Gustave Trouvé Awards, under category III — Excellence in Electric Boats Designed for Paying Passengers, an award which is the world’s only international award exclusively for electric boats.
Navalt CEO Sandith Thandasherry says, “We see a lot of demand for our electric boats, with some giant steps being made across the country. We will ensure that our expertise and experience will be fully utilised towards our vision to bring down the energy needs of the boating industry to zero. We believe this recognition will give us opportunities for new partnerships, which are vital in the decarbonisation of water transport.” Navalt aims to indigenise the core technologies that enable advanced solar-electric ferries.