Cabinet nod for fresh land allocations at industrial zones

• Land handovers to investors in 9 industrial zones
• Decision based on recommendations by Industries Ministry
• Local investors continue to tap opportunities created by import restrictions

Cabinet has given approval for land allocations in nine industrial zones around the country for the purpose of fresh investment projects, an official said yesterday.

Cabinet Co-Spokesperson and Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila told reporters at the weekly Cabinet briefing that project evaluation committees and the regional industrial services committee of the Industries Ministry had recommended these allocations. 

Accordingly, 16 plots of land in nine industrial zones will be given to investors. The nine industrial zones include Nalanda (Matale), Bataatha, Karandeniya, Udukawa, Embilipitiya, Kalutara, Batticaloa and Nawagampura.  

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa to allocate the lands on a 35-year lease basis.

“These investments are expected to create more economic development in these areas and provide jobs,” he added.

Spurred on by the Government’s import restrictions, local manufacturers are stepping up with about 140 new proposals, worth an estimated Rs. 48 billion, currently under evaluation by the Industries Ministry.

Industries Ministry Secretary Anusha Pelpita last month said that the multitude of new ventures had left officials scrambling for land, as all zones within the Western Province were mostly operating at capacity. The new ventures are likely to need approximately 395 acres of fresh land and will create 11,655 new jobs.

The Ministry has already received a slew of Cabinet approvals to roll out investments. In late February, Cabinet approved expanding the industrial zone in Kalutara by absorbing 1.9 hectares of State land adjoining the zone, to meet the growing demand of industrialists for land in the Western Province. 

A new industrial zone has been earmarked in Katana for 150 new ventures expected to create over 10,000 jobs and use up Rs. 30 billion in investment.