India’s first water taxi service was inaugurated in Maharashtra on Thursday which will connect the Navi Mumbai area to mainland Mumbai. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the Belapur jetty while Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbanand Sonowal flagged off the water taxi.
The ₹8.37–crore project will presently run on three routes and the State and the Centre have each shared 50% of the expenditure. The three routes include Belapur to Ferry Wharf – the domestic cruise terminal, Belapur to Elephanta Caves and Belapur to JNPT.
In the initial stage, seven speedboats each with a capacity of 10 to 30 passengers and one catamaran with passenger capacity of around 50 to 60 will run on these routes. The cost per person on a single journey will be between ₹820 to ₹1,200 for speed boats and ₹290 for the catamaran.
