Indian funded housing project expands to Sri Lanka’s Southern district of Matara
High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu along with Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera and Sri Lanka’s Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Palani Digambaram have laid the foundation stone for 50 new houses to be constructed under the Indian Housing Project at Indola Estate in Matara.
Members of Parliament and Southern Provincial Council, senior Government officials as well as officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Plantation and Estate Management and a large number of people from the Indola Estate had participated in the ceremony.
The Indian High Commissioner in his remarks has reiterated that the Government and people of India’s commitment to the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards prosperity and development.
Out of the 14,000 houses committed by the Government of India in the plantation areas, over 1,000 houses have been completed and construction of 3,000 is currently underway.
According to reports, as soon as the land for the remaining houses is identified by the Sri Lankan Government, construction of these houses will be undertaken.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo has stated that the locations of these houses are in Central and Uva Provinces covering Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, Mathala and Monaragala and also in Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces including Galle, Matara, Kegalle and Ratnapura.
These houses are being constructed under an innovative owner-driven process with technical support from independent implementing agencies on behalf of the Government of India viz. UN Habitat, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC)/Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC), Habitat for Humanity, Sri Lanka and National Housing Development Authority of Sri Lanka.
OSL take:
The expansion of the Indian funded housing programme in Sri Lanka is indicative of the strong Indo-Lanka ties. Also, the development programme launched by the Sri Lankan government has resulted in the expansion of investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. The strong bilateral and trade ties between India and Sri Lanka is a confidence boost for Indian businesses/investors to explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/09042019/Z_2 |