High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Santosh Jha meets Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman during his visit to Eastern Province, on May 5.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Eastern Province holds special significance in connectivity initiatives between India and Sri Lanka, Indian envoy Santosh Jha has said, as he visited the three districts in the province to take stock of several India-assisted projects.

During the visit last week, Mr. Jha, India’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, highlighted the multi-sectoral grant assistance package consisting of 33 different projects throughout the province in diverse areas as well as ongoing discussions between the two governments to collaborate for the comprehensive development of Trincomalee, an official statement said.

He took stock of several projects being implemented by the Government of India for the people of the province and visited various sites of historical, cultural and commercial significance.

He also highlighted the various connectivity and energy projects being pursued between India and Sri Lanka, which will bring significant benefits to the Eastern Province.

The Eastern Province occupies a pre-eminent position in connectivity initiatives between India and Sri Lanka and the High Commissioner underlined that India stands ready to work arduously with the concerned authorities in Sri Lanka on this front, the statement said.

Jha reviewed the progress in the construction of the Surgical Unit in Teaching Hospital Batticaloa, being built through grant assistance from India. This facility is expected to be completed soon. He also visited the Model Village Housing Projects in Batticaloa and Trincomalee, which are part of a comprehensive project, under which a total of 600 houses are being built across the 25 districts of Sri Lanka by India for vulnerable and homeless families.

Separately, he met and encouraged concerned stakeholders to actively work towards the expeditious completion of the 5,000 MT temperature-controlled warehouse in Dambulla. The first-of-its-kind facility in the country will help the farmers in the region to reduce their post-harvest losses considerably. During the site visit to the proposed solar facility in Sampur, he expressed confidence that work would commence at the earliest.

The High Commissioner visited several facilities of Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) in Trincomalee. He recalled the unparalleled role the company played in limiting the adverse effects of the energy crisis in 2022 during these engagements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe during their meeting at the Hyderabad house in New Delhi on July 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Sri Lanka is looking to accelerate greater economic cooperation with India with the tourism sector taking the lead, the island nation’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on April 25.

India’s status as a rising economic giant and Sri Lanka’s location as a strategic logistics hub will complement each other in driving forward the two economies, he said while addressing the opening of Indian firm ITC Hotels’ first overseas property, ITC Ratnadipa in Colombo.

“I have no doubt that this icon (ITC Ratnadipa) will help increase tourism into Sri Lanka, more particularly from India. Now these are part of the vision statement which Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and I signed last year on how do we integrate our economies and we get closer,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

The economic background, the convertibility of Indian rupees, all have now been laid, he said, adding, ”so this is the start. I think more than any other sector we identified this [tourism] is one which you can start”. He further said, “Information technology is another area that we will be moving fast on and there are many other projects that India and Sri Lanka will have here.”

Highlighting how the two countries stood to gain from greater cooperation, he said, ”India is now one of the rising economic giants and we, Sri Lanka, is in a crucial location for logistics, and next to India.”

Specifically for the tourism sector, Mr. Wickremesinghe said, “I have no doubt that for many years, Sri Lanka will be the appropriate place to spend holiday. In time to come it would be easier for a person in Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad to jump into a plane and come here than go to the northern part of India.”

Referring to ITC’s new hotel, which is one of the biggest investments in Sri Lankan hospitality sector by an Indian firm at around ₹3,000 crore, he said,”I hope this will encourage many other hotels, many other companies from other parts of the world to come and invest here.”

India will increase up to 50% of the financial grant for nine ongoing high-impact community projects in Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission said here on Friday.

With the increase in the financial allocation for the projects under the India-Sri Lanka High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) framework, the current grant for the initiative stands at 3 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($9,374,303).

“The government of India has increased the financial allocation for various grant projects being implemented across the length and breadth of the country. The financial allocation has been increased by up to 50% in the case of 9 ongoing projects that are being executed under the India-Sri Lanka High Impact Community Development Project framework,” the Indian High Commission said in a statement.

It further said: “The overall financial commitment for these 9 projects currently stands at close to SLR 3 billion, after the increase”.

These projects cut across sectors ranging from education and health to agriculture, among others.

India has already completed more than 60 grant projects under the HICDP framework, covering all 25 districts of Sri Lanka.

In addition, 20 other projects are under different stages of implementation.

The HICDP framework was signed between the two countries in 2005 and subsequently renewed thrice, for a period of five years each time.

The release said the overall development cooperation partnership portfolio in Sri Lanka was around $5 billion, of which $600 million is grant.

“Demand-driven and people-centric projects carried out by the Government of India span across areas such as infrastructure development, housing, livelihood assistance etc. 1990 Emergency Ambulance Service, Railway Track rehabilitation, Integrated Water Plants, Indian Housing Project and Jaffna Cultural Center are among the landmark projects completed by India in Sri Lanka,” the statement said.