Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Wendesday, 5 March, laid the foundation stones for India’s first riverine lighthouses along the Brahmaputra River, marking a new step in strengthening inland waterway navigation infrastructure in the country.
The ceremony took place at Lachit Ghat in Guwahati.
The project will see four lighthouses constructed at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh district, Pandu in Kamrup (Metro) district, Silghat in Nagaon district, and Biswanath Ghat in Biswanath district along the Brahmaputra, which forms National Waterway-2 (NW-2).
The combined project outlay for all four lighthouses stands at approximately ₹84 crore, according to the ministry.
Each lighthouse will be 20 metres tall and designed with a geographical range of 14 nautical miles and a luminous range of 8-10 nautical miles.
The structures will run entirely on solar energy and are expected to support round-the-clock navigation on the river.
The Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), in collaboration with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), will execute the project.
In addition to navigation infrastructure, the sites will include museums, amphitheatres, cafeterias, children’s play areas, souvenir shops, and landscaped public spaces, positioning them as tourism landmarks as well as maritime assets.
The development comes as cargo movement on the Brahmaputra waterway recorded a 53 per cent increase in financial year 2024-25, according to IWAI data.
The river corridor plays a key role in supply chains serving Assam’s tea, coal, and fertiliser industries, while also supporting passenger and tourism traffic.
Speaking at the event, Sonowal said inland waterways are emerging as a major economic enabler.
He said moving a tonne of freight by water costs a fraction of road transport and produces significantly lower emissions, while also freeing highways for passenger and time-sensitive goods movement.
The project was initiated after the Minister’s Office explored the feasibility of establishing river lighthouses in the Northeast.
An MoU between IWAI and DGLL for the four sites was signed on 8 April 2025, and the sites were formally transferred to DGLL in June 2025 under Right of Use agreements.
National Waterway-2 runs from Dhubri in West Bengal to Sadiya in Assam, covering a navigable length of 891 Km.
It is the longest navigable stretch of any Indian waterway and passes through the core of the Northeast region.
Sonowal stated that the lighthouses will support safe night navigation and help remove one of the major constraints to round-the-clock waterway operations on the Brahmaputra.
The four facilities are expected to be completed within 24 months after the award of contracts.
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