India only creditor to continue railway assistance

The contract for design, installation, testing and commissioning of signalling system for Sri Lanka Railways from Maho to Anuradhapura (66 km) was signed between the Ministry of Transport and Highways of Sri Lanka and Ircon Ltd., on Thursday in the presence of the Transport and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardane and the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay. 

Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman; State Minister of Highways  Siripala Gamalath; senior officials from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Transport and Highways, Sri Lankan Railways and Ircon, were also present during the signing event. 

The mentioned project is being executed under an Indian Line of Credit (LOC) of $ 318 million at a cost of $ 14.90 million.

In his remarks at the event, High Commissioner stressed the significance of the signalling project for easing movement of the people of Sri Lanka, accelerating economic recovery of the country and strengthening the cooperation between the two countries. He highlighted that LOC for this project in the current situation, symbolises the continued desire of the Government and the people of India to stand with the people of Sri Lanka.  

The Transport and Highways Ministry Dr. Bandula Gunawardane thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India for supporting Sri Lanka in multiple ways, especially during the economic crisis last year. It was also pointed out that Sri Lankan railway projects have received support in the form of LOCs in recent times only from India.  Projects of over $ 1 billion in the Railway sector have been completed under 5 Indian LOCs till date. Ircon, which started its operations in Sri Lanka in March 2009, has completed several projects in Sri Lanka with Indian assistance and has contributed significantly towards rehabilitation and modernisation of Sri Lanka Railways, capacity building and employment generation. 

At present, Ircon is undertaking a project for upgradation of the railway line including track rehabilitation and ancillary works from Maho to Omanthai (128 km) at a cost of $ 91.27 million. Under this project, while track rehabilitation work from Anuradhapura to Omanthai has already been completed, work on the section from Anuradhapura to Maho will commence from January 2024.