Mumbai's western coast will soon get a ferry service that will take you from Borivali to Nariman Point and vice-versa in 45 minutes. The Maharashtra Maritime Board has received one Expression of Interest for a ferry service provider in the city.
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Star Ferries have proposed to operate a ferry every half an hour from both sides, which will take 45 minutes from end-to-end. The project cost is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore and the service will most likely begin in October. It will be available from 6.30 am to 9 pm
"While there is no jetty at Nariman Point, we will set up a floating jetty near National Centre for Performing Arts which will not require any Coastal Regulation Zone clearance. At Borivali, we already have a jetty and we have started dredging work since a depth of three metres is required for these ferries," an official said.
There is currently no jetty at Borivali for passengers to disembark. However, the Maharashtra Maritime Board will most likely construct a jetty at National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).
"We want to start only an end-to-end service as we want to understand the response. If there is a good response we will construct a proper jetty at NCPA and also add the other proposed stops at Marve, Versova, Juhu and Bandra," the official added.
In December 2016, the Central government had roped in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for developing ferry services at 18 locations in six cities on National Waterway-1. Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Munghyr, Kolkata and Haldia were the identified cities.
India's first roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel passenger ferry services is expected to begin in April at Gujarat's Dahej. The project is being executed by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) at a cost of Rs 550 crore.
It will connect Saurashtra region in Gujarat with southern parts. From Ghoga in Saurashtra to Dahej in south Gujarat will only take 90 minutes instead of the 10-12 hours by road.
