Around 750 passengers sailed on a cruise from Chennai to Sri Lanka on a five day voyage after Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off India's first international cruise vessel on Monday. The MV Empress cruise has a capacity to accommodate 3,000 passengers, was flagged off from Chennai port that will connect three ports--- Triconmalle, Hambantota and Jaffna---in Sri Lanka.
"We are aiming to turn Chennai into a hub for cruise tourism" the Minister told NDTV.
Besides several attractions, the ship offers casino games, playing which passengers can win or lose money. Although the game is illegal in India but the operators say that it would be played only in international waters.
Justifying this, Sarbanamda Sonowal said "casino is required for a modern outlook and for cruiseliners to prosper". Last year, the Puducherry government denied entry to this ship objecting to casinos among others when the same vessel offered Chennai - Puducherry - Vishakapatnam cruise.
Largely seen as a cargo port, the Chennai port is in desperate need of state of art cruise passenger amenities, immigration and baggage claim infrastructure.
"We will develop the facilities at Chennai Port. People should have good landing facility. They need to feel at home," the Minister told NDTV.
The shipping Minister also ensured the development of Tuticorin port as a cruise hub with potential to offer interesting cruise circuits.
The Minister was non commital on Tamil Nadu Government's demand for revival of the Sethusamudram canal project that would connect the east and west coast of India without circumnavigating Sri Lanka. He said "The matter is sub-judice". On the existence of Ram Sethu on the stretch, on the basis of the ambitious project was stopped, recently the Union Minister of Science and Technology told the parliament that "Pieces and islands and some kind limestome shoals" have been found using space technology but "can't be accurately said to be remnants of parts of a bridge".
He also rejected criticism in the state that the Tamil Nadu outreach is BJP's way of reaching out to voters ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Minister said "The BJP takes development equally to all states".
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