Colombo Port terminal: Contract to India to be announced by end May

The government is expected to announce the award of the contract for the development of the container terminal at the Colombo port as a Joint Venture with India by the end of this month, according the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two sides in New Delhi last week.

The MoU, in its final version worked out in New Delhi, says a concept paper will be brought out for the development of the agriculture sector and livestock industry by the end of the next month.

The MoU has set deadlines for initiatives on the projects outlined in the MoU signed between the Prime Ministers of the two countries.

Among them is the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fired 500 megawatt capacity LNG Power Plant. For it, the government of Sri Lanka is required to issue a Letter of Intent to the Indian government or its representative by the end of May.

The project includes an LNG Terminal, Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Kerawalapitiya /Colombo; a piped gas distribution system; retail outlets for supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector; and conversion of liquid fuel-based power plants to R-LNG fired power plants in Sri Lanka.

For the LNG Terminal / Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Kerawalapitiya/Colombo, a Joint Venture will be formed among entities of Sri Lanka, India and Japan, for which modalities will be worked out by end July 2017.

A Joint Working Group (JWG) will be constituted and will meet in the first half of May 2017. GOI will submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to GOSL by end August 2017 on the piped gas distribution system and retail outlets for supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector.

Also, the government has agreed to a Letter of Intent to the Indian government or its representative by the end of this month for the 50 MW (extendable to 100 MW) Solar Power Plant in Sampur.(Kelum Bandara)