PTI

Mumbai, Dec 3: With a hovercraft service expected to begin on Mumbai waterways by 2009, the city is also likely to get its first marine ambulance for transporting patients.

Satyagiri Shipping, which has been awarded the contract for the development of the service by 2009, is planning to introduce a hovercraft ambulance and will enter into talks with prominent city hospitals regarding it soon, Dinesh Joshi, director of the company, said.

"This will be the first of its kind in the city and we believe it will be a lot faster than road transport which often takes a lot of time in case of emergencies," Joshi said.

The hovercraft service, to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, is to be operated along the west coast of the city for ferrying people between suburban Borivali and the business district of Nariman Point in South Mumbai, with stops at western suburbs on the route.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) had recently awarded the project to Satyagiri Shipping, who will bring in hovercrafts and construct infrastructure for operating the service on a Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) basis.