Foreign cruise liners put India on itinerary

Foreign cruise liners have finally put India on their itinerary. Star Cruises, a Norwegian liner, is in talks with the shipping ministry for making India a regular port of call.

"The liner, which hardly calls on India, has sought clarifications regarding immigration, Customs procedure and may be expected to finalise certain tourist circuits within the country," a ministry official said.

In the past year, only 15 cruise vessels have come to India, of which the Star cruise vessels have called twice.

Globally, Star Cruise is among the top five cruise liners, both in terms of the number of ships and gross registered tonnage ( GRT). It maintains a fleet of 22 vessels, which is the largest in the world, with a tonnage of 1.05 million GRT.

The Star group, along with the Carnival, Royal Caribbean International and P&O Princess Cruises account for 75 per cent of the global passenger capacity.

With global cruise operators looking at the Indian market and the government taking steps to spruce up the industry here, cruise tourism is expected to meet its potential of generating business worth $100 million by 2010, according to a port official.

In order to make India an important cruise destination, the government has decided to exempt these vessels from the purview of the cabotage regulations for five years.

This means these foreign vessels will no longer have to obtain permission from the Director-General of Shipping before operating between Indian ports.

The government is also considering introducing a single-entry visa.