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Tag: Lanka

  • Lankan envoy addresses EAC-PM on key areas in India ties

    Lankan envoy addresses EAC-PM on key areas in India ties

    The High Commissioner stressed the importance of economic integration between Sri Lanka and India…reports Asian Lite News

    Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda on Wednesday addressed the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (EAC-PM) on key areas pertaining to Indo-Lanka relations, particularly, bilateral economic integration and cooperation.

    The High Commissioner stressed the importance of economic integration between Sri Lanka and India, and requested the Council to assist in that process by way of policy guidance. High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda had addressed the EAC-PM at the invitation of its Chairman Bibek Debroy. The talk was held at the Council’s office in NITI Bhavan in New Delhi.

    The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the Government of India, specifically to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    High Commissioner Moragoda premised his address on the policy roadmap, the “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India- 2021/2023”, and answered the questions posed by the members of the Council following the talk, according to a statement from the High Commission of Sri Lanka.

    Currently, the membership of the EAC-PM consists of Chairman Bibek Debroy and members Sanjeev Sanyal and Shamika Ravi.

    Rakesh Mohan, Sajjid Chinoy, Neelkanth Mishra, Nilesh Shah, TT Ram Mohan and Poonam Gupta serve as Council’s part-time members.

    Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has sought India’s help in policy reforms, utilisation of digital technology, capacity building, good governance, and institution building to address the recent economic challenges faced by the country and to put it on the path of high economic growth.

    The help was sought during a discussion with an Indian delegation led by the Director General of the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Bharat Lal, mentions a statement from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The Indian delegation called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe on April 1, 2023, during its two-day visit to the neighbouring country at the invitation of the Sri Lankan Government. Director General NCGG was accompanied by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Bagley, Dr A P Singh, Associate Professor of NCGG and other senior diplomats of the Mission.

    During the meeting, President Wickremesinghe shared his vision for Sri Lanka, a strategy to address the recent economic challenges and put the country on the path of high economic growth.

    The discussion centred around policy reforms, good governance, digitalisation, capacity building and training, institution building, and assured public service delivery, reads the statement.

    Sri Lankan President, the statement pointed out, admired the way India managed socio-economic development and ensured high economic growth.

    During the discussion, President Wickremesinghe urged NCGG to help in establishing a University of Governance and Public Policy in Sri Lanka.

    During the meeting, the Director General, NCGG underscored how Prime Minister Narendra Modi, upon assuming the role of Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 amid a slew of crises and negative economic growth, was able to put the state on the path of high economic growth and sustained prosperity through his vision, strategy, and progressive policies.

    Consequently, Gujarat has experienced double-digit economic growth over the past two decades. Thereafter, since 2014, as Prime Minister, he has introduced a new culture of citizen-centric policies and good governance, and as a result, India is witnessing high economic growth, assured public service delivery and fast improving quality of life of its citizens. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: Sri Lanka seeks India’s help with policy reforms

  • Sri Lanka seeks India’s help with policy reforms

    Sri Lanka seeks India’s help with policy reforms

    Lanka President urged the NCGG to help in establishing a University of Governance and Public Policy in Sri Lanka, according to the press release….reports Asian Lite News

    Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe sought India’s help in establishing policy reforms, governance, capacity building, digitalization, and public service delivery, according to the press statement released by India’s Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

    The Indian delegation led by the Director General of the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Bharat Lal met Sri Lanka’s President on Saturday in the island country and discussed topics like policy reforms, good governance, digitalization, capacity building and training, institution building, and assured public service delivery. President admired the way India has managed socioeconomic development and has ensured high economic growth.

    In the meeting, President Wickremesinghe shared his vision for Sri Lanka, a strategy to address the recent economic challenges and put the country on the path of high economic growth. He also urged the NCGG to help in establishing a University of Governance and Public Policy in Sri Lanka, according to the press release.

    Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crisis management skills during the 2001 riot as Chief Minister, Director General said, “Upon assuming the role of Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 amid a slew of crises and negative economic growth, was able to put the state on the path of high economic growth and sustained prosperity through his vision, strategy, and progressive policies. Consequently, Gujarat has experienced double-digit economic growth over the past two decades.”

    “Thereafter, since 2014, as Prime Minister, he has introduced a new culture of citizen-centric policies and good governance, and as a result, India is witnessing high economic growth, assured public service delivery and fast improving quality of life of its citizens,” The statement quoted him as saying.

    To reinforce Prime Minister’s vision for good governance, which focuses on transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness, India is massively using digital technology and planning, execution and monitoring mechanisms for time-bound implementation.

    In line with the Prime Minister’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ NCGG in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, is dedicated to promoting collaboration and learning among civil servants of India and neighbouring countries.

    During the two-day visit of an Indian delegation, they met several senior civil servants of Sri Lanka, and everyone is keen to know how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new governance model to eradicate poverty, ensure high-quality services, assured public service delivery, environmental protection, inclusion & equity, transparency and accountability, and high economic growth.

    Sri Lanka is keen to learn the policy-driven governance model of India and the massive use of digital technology in the planning, execution, and monitoring of various programmes and projects.

    “During a series of meetings set up by the President’s office, top civil servants expressed their appreciation for the sustained assistance that India has provided to Sri Lanka during its recent unprecedented economic crisis. DG spoke about the Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘neighbourhood first’ and highlighted the special relationship India-Sri Lanka have,” the statement read.

    “The DG also stressed the critical role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and vision, as well as his emphasis on good governance, in ensuring efficient, effective, and technology-driven public service delivery. The discussions centred on the NCGG’s support for Sri Lanka in policy reforms, utilization of digital technology, capacity building, good governance, and institution building,” the statement added.

    They believed that this would aid Sri Lanka in strengthening its institutions and that the country is eager to learn and utilize India’s successful governance model to achieve high economic growth.

    The Indian delegation emphasized the positive impact of digital technology in promoting transparency, equity, inclusion, and accountability. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: Lanka to boost remittance inflows from migrant workers

  • Lanka to boost remittance inflows from migrant workers

    Lanka to boost remittance inflows from migrant workers

    Migrant workers’ remittance is one of the main sources of foreign exchange for the South Asian country….reports Asian Lite News

    Sri Lanka is set to increase duty-free allowances for migrant workers at the airport starting from May in order to encourage remittance, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara said.

    The increase will be based on the amount of money remitted by the workers, Nanayakkara added on Monday during a media briefing.

    Under the new scheme, there will be five categories of concessions, Xinhua news agency reported.

    For people having remitted $2,400-$4,799, $4,800-$7,199, $7,200-$11,999, $12,000-$23,999 and $24,000 or more, they will be eligible for an additional duty-free allowance of $600, $960, $1,440, $2,400, and $4,800, respectively, when shopping at the airport, according to the Minister.

    The concessions will be available to anyone who has sent the mentioned amount of money through official channels to the country within a year, the Minister said.

    He added that no tax will be charged on foreign worker remittances and money held in banks in the form of foreign exchange.

    Migrant workers’ remittance is one of the main sources of foreign exchange for the South Asian country.

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  • Lanka sets up committee to oversee utilisation of IMF funds

    Lanka sets up committee to oversee utilisation of IMF funds

    The committee will ensure that the IMF’s conditions are implemented effectively…reports Asian Lite News

    Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has established a committee to oversee Sri Lanka’s utilisation of the credit facility provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), state media reported on Sunday.

    The committee includes Sagala Ratnayaka, chief of staff to the president, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, and a group of experts, according to the Sunday Observer.

    The committee’s main responsibility is to monitor the IMF process regularly and examine tax policies, including changes in tax percentages and the possibility of increasing direct taxes while decreasing indirect taxes, Xinhua News Agency reported.

    Additionally, the committee will ensure that the IMF’s conditions are implemented effectively, state media reported.

    Upon the president’s instructions, the committee will report to the cabinet once a month on key issues, including ordinances such as the anti-corruption act.

    The president will make recommendations on the committee’s operation, and its approval will be sought from the cabinet in due course.

    Sri Lanka started negotiations with the international lender in 2022 after it was hit by a severe economic crisis.

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  • Lanka to ink deal with India to promote green energy

    Lanka to ink deal with India to promote green energy

    Lankan official claimed that Indian government has expressed willingness to strengthen renewable energy sector…reports Susitha Fernando

    Sri Lanka will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India to promote renewable energy as the Island nation aims to generate 70 per cent of its electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2030.

    Sri Lankan Cabinet has given approval for a MoU on the cooperation in the field of renewable energy between the two countries, a Sri Lanka Cabinet spokesman said.

    “The government has declared generating 70 per cent of the electricity requirement by 2030 from renewable energy sources to become independent in power supply and for neutralising carbon emissions by 2050,” the spokesman added.

    He said that the Indian government has expressed willingness to strengthen renewable energy sector by operating and facilitating power generation using solar, wind and power generation through biomass.

    India is also to provide continuous transmission of infrastructure in places where agreed mutually in the island including the northern and eastern provinces in cooperation with private and state entrepreneurs in India and Sri Lanka.

    Meanwhile, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) of Sri Lanka have entered into an agreement to jointly implement a solar power project in two stages in the same venue where the previous coal power generation plant was planned to be established in Sampoor in Trincomalee, generating 135 megawatts.

    “As the first stage of this project, it is expected to implement a solar power project of 50 megawatts with a total estimated investment of $42.5 million and to construct a 220 kilowatts transmission line with 40 km length from Sampoor to Kappalthure in the Eastern province spending $23.6 million and it is planned to complete this stage in two years from 2024 to 2025,” the spokesman said.

    “A solar power generation plant with an additional 85 megawatts is expected to be constructed under a total investment of $72 million at the stage 2 of this project. Further to this, it has been planned to construct a transmission line of 76 km with a capacity of 220 kilowatts from Kappalthure to New Habarana in the North Central province with an estimated expenditure of $42 million in order to the distribution of electricity generated under the above stage 02,” he added.

    On Friday, Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera had a discussion on investment opportunities and energy sector corporation with an Indian delegation led by Pankaj Jain, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The discussion had focused on developing Trincomalee as an energy hub and promoting renewable energy, infrastructure development and supply of liquefied natural gas.

    At the discussion, Jain had called for enhanced partnership between India and Sri Lanka in energy sector and said that the two countries need to explore renewable energy sources as well as understanding newer molecules like green hydrogen, ammonia and compressed biogas.

    The Indian delegation participated at the discussion included Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay, Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K. Jacob, Special Duty Officer of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Esha Srivastava, Chairman of IOC Company S.M. Vaidya, Engineers India Limited Chairman Varthika Shukla, Managing Director of Petronet LNG Limited A.K. Singh, Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Limited Rajarshi Gupta, Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited Amit Garg and officials from the High Commission of India.

    ALSO READ: Lanka opens fuel market to more players

  • Lanka opens fuel market to more players

    Lanka opens fuel market to more players

    The three new companies will be allocated 150 dealer operated fuel stations each, which are currently operated by the CPC. …reports SUSITHA FERNANDO

    Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved to award licenses to China’s Sinopec and two other companies from Australia and the US to enter the Island country’s fuel retail market, which is currently run by the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and India’s Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC).

    “Cabinet approval granted to award licenses to Sinopec, United Petroleum, Australia and RM Parks of USA in a collaboration with Shell Plc to enter the Fuel Retail market in Sri Lanka,” Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet on Monday.

    The minister further said that the Energy Committee and other relevant procurement committees had given their approval and recommendation to award the three companies the licenses to operate.

    The three new companies will be allocated 150 dealer operated fuel stations each, which are currently operated by the CPC. “They will be granted a license to operate for 20 years to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka. A further 50 fuel stations at new locations will be established by each selected company,” he said in another tweet.

    At present, the CPC with over 1200 fuel stations and Lanka IOC, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, with over 250 filling stations run the fuel retailing in the country.

    Following the severe fuel crisis due to the dollar crunch since the beginning of 2022, Sri Lanka decided to give half of nearly 1200 state-owned filling stations to foreign companies. Sri Lanka, with no dollars to pay for fuel shipments, forced the consumers to await dates long queues.

    Helping its closest southern neighbour to come out of the crisis, India provided over $4 billion financial assistance, which included fuel which were supplied through the LIOC.

    ALSO READ: India to help Lanka in strengthening its energy sector

  • Lanka: Ranil’s yes to armed forces to maintain public order

    Lanka: Ranil’s yes to armed forces to maintain public order

    The Army, Navy and Air Force have been called out for the maintenance of public order in nearly 30 districts, including capital Colombo….reports Asian Lite News

    Amidst looming protests mainly over tax hikes and early elections, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has called armed forces to maintain public order in a number of selected areas.

    An extraordinary gazette notification was issued by the President calling upon the armed forces to maintain public order with effect from March 22.

    “By virtue of the powers vested in me by Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), I, Ranil Wickremesinghe, President, do by this order call out with effect from March 22, 2023 all the members of the Armed Forces specified in the First Schedule hereto, for the maintenance of public order in the areas specified in the Second Schedule hereto,” the gazette announced.

    The Army, Navy and Air Force have been called out for the maintenance of public order in nearly 30 districts, including capital Colombo.

    The areas that the forces have been called included the Western province and former war-torn Northern Province and the territorial water adjacent to the said areas.

    Following a much-delayed deal, Sri Lanka received the green light to receive $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditional bailout to overcome the worst ever financial crisis the country is facing since independence in 1948.

    On Tuesday, the global lender announced that island nation would receive the first $330 million IMF tranche but the country was directed to introduce some politically unpopular decision such as severe tax hikes.

    On March 15, over 40 professional bodies including doctors and bankers and various public and private trade unions launched a strike against tax hike crippling the country.

    Opposition parties also demand to conduct local government election which was earlier scheduled for March 9 but the government delays claiming no money to hold an election.

    ALSO READ: IMF funding will lay foundation for a strong economy: Lanka President

  • Lanka bailout: IMF stresses anti-corruption, governance reforms

    Lanka bailout: IMF stresses anti-corruption, governance reforms

    On Monday night, the IMF approved the 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of $2.9 billion….reports Asian Lite News

    After Sri Lanka secured the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, the global lender emphasised on the importance of anti-corruption and governance reforms to obtain the package amid the ongoing economic crisis in the island nation.

    On Monday night, the IMF approved the 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of $2.9 billion.

    “We emphasize the importance of anti-corruption and governance reforms as a central pillar of the EFF-supported program-they are indispensable to ensure the hard-won gains from the reforms benefit the Sri Lankan people,” Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, and Masahiro Nozaki, Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Asia and Pacific Department, said in a joint statement.

    They stated that the authorities have committed to fundamentally improve public financial management and strengthen the anti-corruption legal framework in line with the UN Convention against Corruption.

    In addition, the IMF is conducting an in-depth governance diagnostic exercise, which will assess corruption and governance vulnerabilities in Sri Lanka and provide prioritized and sequenced recommendations.

    “Sri Lanka will be the first country in Asia to undergo a governance diagnostic exercise by the IMF. We look forward to further engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and civil society organizations on this critical reform area,” the senior IMF officials announced.

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    Suffered by severe shortages of essential items like food, fuel medicine for over a year, Sri Lanka is to receive an initial disbursement of about $330 million from the IMF-EFF arrangement, which is expected to catalyse new external financing including from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

    However, the IMF reform program is built on strong policy measures and priorities including an ambitious revenue-based fiscal consolidation, accompanied by stronger social safety nets; fiscal institutional reforms and cost-recovery based energy pricing to ensure the state’s ability to support all its essential expenditures; restoration of public debt sustainability, including through a debt restructuring to ensure stable financing of the government’s operations; a multi-pronged strategy to restore price stability and rebuild reserves under greater exchange rate flexibility in order to alleviate the burden of inflation, particularly on the poor; to foster an environment of investment and growth and to ensure Sri Lanka’s ability to purchase essential goods from abroad; policies to safeguard financial sector stability to ensure that the financial sector can play its key role in supporting economic growth; and structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and enhance growth.

    “Commendably, Sri Lanka has already started implementing these challenging policy actions. It is now essential to continue the reform momentum under strong ownership by the authorities and the Sri Lankan people more broadly,” the IMF stated.

    The lender further said that the economic impact of the reforms on the poor and vulnerable needs to be mitigated with appropriate measures.

    “In this regard, we welcome the authorities’ firm commitment to strengthen social safety nets, including through a minimum spending floor, well-targeted spending through a new Social Registry, and establishment of objective eligibility criteria. Tax reforms under the program are designed to be progressive, that is, ensuring greater contributions from high-income earners,” it stated.

    Sri Lanka’s public debt, at 128 per cent of GDP as of end-2022, is unsustainable.

    The country is in arrears to all its external creditors.

    The IMF Board approval of assistance to Sri Lanka required assurances from official bilateral creditors — India, China and Japan — that they would provide debt relief and financing to restore debt sustainability consistent with the program, as well as an assessment that the authorities are making good faith efforts to reach a collaborative agreement with private creditors.

    “It is now important for the Sri Lankan authorities and creditors to closely coordinate and make swift progress towards a debt treatment that restores debt sustainability under the EFF-supported program,” the IMF concluded.

    When the country was hit with skyrocketing inflation and dollar crunch from early 2022, India, Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour, came to rescue with nearly $4 billion financial assistance in a way of credit lines.

    India has also provided multiple assistance and essential items like medicine, food and fuel.

    It was one of the first countries to agree to Sri Lanka’s debt structuring programme, a condition to receive the IMF bailout.

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  • Lanka’s debt burden continues to soar

    Lanka’s debt burden continues to soar

    The government was responsible for an additional 5.62 per cent of the guaranteed debt held by state-owned businesses, bringing the total to 125.7 per cent of GDP….reports Asian Lite News

    The Sri Lankan government’s debt has risen to 115.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2022 from 104.5 per cent a year earlier, according to the latest national account estimates by the island’s statistics office, reported The Island.

    A report in an English daily in Sri Lanka read that the gross debt of Sri Lanka’s central bank was roughly 4.66 per cent of GDP. Moreover, the central bank used special drawing privileges that required interest payments. Nonetheless, as long as domestic credit is mild and forex issues are not re-started under flexible inflation targeting, the central bank maintains government rupee Treasury bills that can be sold for dollars to rebuild reserves and service the external debt.

    In addition, the government was responsible for an additional 5.62 per cent of the guaranteed debt held by state-owned businesses, bringing the total to 125.7 per cent of GDP.

    In a classic Latin American style “inflationary blow off,” Sri Lanka’s nominal GDP surged from 16.8 trillion rupees in 2021 to 24.1 trillion rupees in 2022, increasing nominal tax receipts and lowering the rupee debt to GDP ratio, The Island reported.

    Despite additional debt being borrowed to cover deficits, as a result of High Inflation and Financial Repression (IFR), central government rupee debt decreased from 66 per cent in 2021 to 55 per cent in 2022.

    Since there is no deadline for domestic debt restructuring under the International Monitory Fund (IMF) debt resolution framework, Sri Lanka’s domestic interest rates are now hovering between 20 and 30 per cent.

    Surprisingly, domestic creditors are likely to continue providing the government with funding as “senior creditors” despite the possibility of default. Notwithstanding the rupee’s decline and the suspension of the majority of fresh disbursements, the central government’s foreign debt increased from 39 per cent to 61 per cent of GDP, according to The Island.

    The World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), two additional so-called senior creditors whose debt is not restructured, have reallocated approved financing to support urgent and humanitarian needs in 2022.

    Grants were given by the US, Japan, numerous European nations, China, and India that won’t add to the debt.

    Sri Lanka’s rupee strengthened in March 2022 as domestic credit and consumption were moderated, but it dropped back as a result of an ad hoc peg when central bank purchases looked to have exceeded the excess dollars generated by credit developments, The Island reported. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: IMF to approve $2.9 bn bailout package for Lanka

  • Indian housing project transforms lives in Lanka

    Indian housing project transforms lives in Lanka

    The Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka was launched in 2010 and construction of housing units is still on….reports Asian Lite News

    On March 11, High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Jeevan Thondaman exchanged diplomatic notes, paving the way for a three-fold increase in the unit cost of a house under Phase-3 of the Indian Housing Project (IHP) in Sri Lanka.

    According to the Indian High Commission, this step would now enable expeditious completion of Phase-3 of IHP, under which 4,000 houses are being constructed through grant assistance by Government of India (GOI) in plantation areas of Sri Lanka, spread across seven Districts in Central, Uva and Southern Provinces.

    WHAT IS THE INDIAN HOUSING PROJECT?

    In June 2010, the Indian government announced that it would construct 50,000 houses in Sri Lanka at an outlay of 33 billion LKR in three phases. This was part of its rehabilitation support to Sri Lanka following damage and destruction during decades of conflict in the country’s Northern and Eastern Provinces. A fourth phase was added to the project in 2017.

    Close to 46,000 houses were built in different parts of Sri Lanka under the first two phases of the Indian Housing Project (IHP). The Third Phase, which is currently underway, involves the construction of 4,000 more houses. The Fourth Phase for the construction of 10,000 houses in plantation areas will also commence soon.

    The Pilot Project (First Phase) to construct 1,000 houses for beneficiaries in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province was launched in November 2010; it was completed in July 2012. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Government of Sri Lanka on the modalities of implementation of the remaining 49,000 houses under the project.

    The Second Phase, launched on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2012, envisaged construction of 45,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. This was completed in December 2018.

    According to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, some key features of this second phase of IHP were:

    An innovative owner-driven model was adopted to implement the second phase. The Indian government arranged technical support and financial assistance for the owner-beneficiaries to undertake the construction or repair of their houses themselves.

    Financial assistance of LKR 550,000 per beneficiary (LKR 250,000 in case of repair cases) was released in stages, and transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries by the High Commission of India.

    The Third Phase of the Indian Housing Project involves construction of 4,000 houses for estate workers in the Central and Uva Provinces through an innovative community-driven approach. A Letter of Exchange with the Government of Sri Lanka for this phase was signed in April 2016 and work began in October 2016.

    In the Third Phase, considering the difficulties in the terrain and accessibility of materials and other logistics, LKR 950,000 is disbursed per beneficiary. Over 2,000 houses are complete in the Third Phase and the construction of the remaining houses is currently underway.

    In May 2017, during his visit to Sri Lanka, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an additional 10,000 houses for the estate workers. The agreement formalized in August 2018 as part of IHP’s Fourth Phase entails an additional commitment of LKR 11 billion.

    Preparatory work for these additional houses is currently underway and the construction of these houses is expected to start soon. This makes the total number of houses being built in the plantation areas 14,000.

    SIGNIFICANCE

    According to the Indian High Commission, the exchange of diplomatic notes regarding the increase in unit costs of a house takes place at an important juncture, when the Indian-Origin Tamil (IOT) community who are concentrated in the plantation areas marks 200 years of their arrival to Sri Lanka.

    “This also coincides with 100 years of establishment of Assistant High Commission of India in Kandy, which has been instrumental in implementing several people-centric grant schemes by GOI for the IOT community cutting across areas such as education, health, vocational training, livelihood development and several others, in addition to housing,” the High Commission added.

    These milestones shall be commemorated by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka through several joint initiatives along with the establishment of 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two neighbours. (India News Network)

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