Beginning in January, the world's longest luxury cruise will go from Varanasi to Assam via Bangladesh.

The proposed route will travel from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh and would be the longest luxury river cruise in the world. In an effort to accelerate the development of India's interior waterways, the government plans to launch the service the following year. Beginning on January 10, the cruise will travel 4,000 km in 50 days, departing from Varanasi. Before arriving in Bogibeel in the Dibrugarh district of the eastern Indian state of Assam on March 1, it will travel through Kolkata and Dhaka."The Ganga Vilas cruise will travel 50 days, over 27 river systems, from Varanasi to Dibrugarh, making it the world's longest river voyage. It will stop at more than 50 tourist destinations, including World Heritage Sites. According to Sarbananda Sonowal, minister of ports, shipping, and waterways, "this will be the single largest river excursion by a single river ship in the world and will put both India and Bangladesh on the river cruise map of the world." Public-private partnership (PPP) management is anticipated for the Varanasi-Dibrugarh cruise. For the project, Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises have signed a contract with the government's Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The report also stated that the operators would determine the ticket price without the Center's involvement."All types of visitors will be made comfortable by the service. Additionally, the Indian Vessel Act modification would grant cruise lines a federal permission that would allow them to travel freely between states "And Sonowal. Cruise ships will have a national permit to travel freely between states when the Indian Vessel Act was amended, he noted.

Beginning in Varanasi, the cruise will travel through Buxar, Ramnagar, and Ghazipur before arriving in Patna on the eighth day. Before entering India, the boat would travel over 1,100 kilometres through Bangladesh. The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, which has already opened trade and transit channels connecting the two countries on the Ganga and Brahamaputra rivers, will make this possible.