India recently initiated a transformative project in inland waterway navigation with the laying of foundation stones for four river lighthouses along the Brahmaputra River, as announced by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. This groundbreaking endeavor symbolizes the first establishment of lighthouse infrastructure in the country’s inland waterways and took place at a ceremony in Lachit Ghat, Guwahati, coordinated by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
The four strategic sites for the lighthouses include Bogibeel in Dibrugarh district, Pandu in Kamrup (Metro) district, and Silghat in Nagaon district on the south bank, alongside Biswanath Ghat in Biswanath district, which is situated on the north bank. This initiative comes with a project budget of approximately ₹84 crore. Each lighthouse will be built to a height of 20 meters, offering a geographical range of 14 nautical miles and a luminous range between 8 to 10 nautical miles, with solar energy as the sole power source. Additional features at each site will include a museum, amphitheater, cafeteria, children’s playground, souvenir shop, and landscaped public areas, transforming these lighthouses into both functional maritime assets and tourist attractions.
The need for these river lighthouses has arisen due to a remarkable 53 percent increase in cargo movement along the Brahmaputra waterway for the financial year 2024–25, signaling the region’s importance as a vital corridor for cargo, notably for Assam’s tea, coal, and fertilizer industries, as well as passenger and tourism traffic. The new lighthouses will facilitate safe navigation around the clock, integrate weather observation capabilities, and provide essential navigational infrastructure critical for the sustained growth of both freight and passenger transport on the river.
Union Minister Sonowal emphasized the strategic importance of these inland waterways, positioning them as essential economic assets under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. He noted that transportation of goods via water is significantly cheaper than road transport, contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions and easing the burden on highways. The lighthouses on the Brahmaputra exemplify India’s commitment to leveraging its rivers for commercial activity continuously.
Dignitaries in attendance included Assam’s Ministers of Tourism, Transport, and Public Health Engineering, along with various officials from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Sonowal highlighted the urgency in fully activating the Brahmaputra as a freight corridor, especially given the ongoing strains on road infrastructure in Northeast India.
This project was initiated following a feasibility study led by the Minister’s Office aimed at establishing river lighthouses in the Northeast. An MoU between IWAI and DGLL, signed on April 8, 2025, and subsequent formal agreements facilitated the realization of this project, with a timeline for completion projected to be within 24 months following the awarding of contracts.
As traffic on National Waterway-2 (NW-2) is expected to rise, the environmental advantages such as lower emissions and reduced road congestion are forecasted to enhance the overall operational efficiency of supply chains for the Northeast. The establishment of these lighthouses is anticipated to eliminate major barriers to all-weather navigation, thereby supporting robust, year-round inland waterway operations. DGLL and IWAI will continue to oversee the development of India’s navigation aids, extending their reach beyond the coastline into the nation’s vast inland waterways, which total over 20,000 kilometers. NW-2 represents the longest navigable waterway in India, connecting West Bengal’s Dhubri to Sadiya in upper Assam, further integrating the economic landscape of the Northeast region through improved transportation infrastructure.
