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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Ropax ferry services between Surat and Saurashtra in Gujarat, through video conferencing on Sunday. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani also attended the event.

This ferry service will reduce the distance between Surat and Saurashtra from 317 km (by road) to just 60 kilometres, informed Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Shipping Minister on Saturday.

A large number of people from Saurashtra have settled in Surat and are working in the diamond industry. There are about 5,000 buses plying daily between this route which takes around 10 to 12 hours, Mandaviya informed.

With the inauguration of the Ropax ferry, the time taken to reach Saurashtra will be just four hours. This is going to benefit the people from Saurashtra who are working here in Surat, in a major way.