Centre issues EoI for Sagarmala seaplane routes to gauge corporate interest: Report

Sabarmati riverfront seaplane (Image: ANI)

The Ministry of Shipping and Waterways has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) seeking responses for projects under Sagarmala Seaplane Services (SSPS) to connect several destinations across India.

Some of these routes include the Yamuna riverfront (Delhi) to Ayodhya, Mumbai to Shirdi, Surat to Dwarka, and within Andaman and Nicobar and Lakhadweep, The Times of India reported.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Responses have been sought till January 22, for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the Sagarmala Development Company (SDCL) for joint operation of SSPS. The EoI is aimed at “gauging companies’ interest in the project,” as per the ministry.

As per the EoI document, the SPV will develop and operate landside and waterside infrastructure requirements such as floating jetties, seaplane parking space, maintenance of seaplanes, security, safety and waiting rooms, and procurement, lease and operation of seaplanes.

Further, seaplanes will be operated from waterdomes on both ends to cut high cost of building runways and a terminal, it added.

The routes will be operated under the Centre’s Ude Desk Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

Some routes, as per hub-and-spoke model, would be:

> Delhi hub to Tehri to Srinagar to Uttarakhand and then to Badrinath or Kedarnath, to Chandigarh, and further to Dalhousie and other places in Punjab and Himachal.

>> Mumbai hub have have routes connecting places of tourist interest such as Ganpatipule, Lonavala and Shirdi.

>> Surat hub to have routes connecting Dwarka, Kandla and Mandvi.

At present, only one seaplane service is operational in India between the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad and the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, operated by SpiceJet subsidiary Spice Shuttle.