Sri Lanka signs soft loan agreement with Japan to build light rail transit between Colombo and suburb
The government of Sri Lanka has reportedly signed an agreement with Japan for a soft loan to build a light rail transit (LRT) system connecting the country’s commercial capital Colombo with the Malabe suburb.
The proposed LRT is expected to cut travel time to about 30 minutes.
The entire rail track and stations will be on elevated viaducts to minimize requirement of land acquisition, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese aid agency, a statement issued on the signing of the agreement has said.
The concessionary loan agreement for 30 billion yen (about Rs. 48 billion) between the government of Sri Lanka and JICA is for engineering services and construction of an LRT line between Malabe and Colombo Fort.
“In order to promote technology transfer and economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and Japan, JICA’s loans for this project are provided under Special Terms for Economic Partnership,” the statement said.
The loan will carry an annual interest rates of 0.1 percent for civil works and equipment cost, 0.01 percent a year for engineering services cost and have a 40-year repayment period including 12 years’ grace period.
“JICA is proud to be the partner of the government of Sri Lanka in establishing the very first urban LRT line in Sri Lanka. It will fundamentally change the face of public transport in this country, ease traffic congestion and improve the environment of Colombo city,” Fusato Tanaka, Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office has said.
“We hope the government will take sustainable measures to ensure proper operation and maintenance, so that the benefits of Japanese technology and concessionary funding could be enjoyed by the public of Sri Lanka.”
With an 80km/hour top speed, travel time from Malabe to Fort will be about 30 minutes, including stopping time at stations, with the LRT, the statement has further noted.
The Malabe-Fort LRT line with a total length of about 16 km, with 16 stations, will connect Colombo’s commercial hub with the administrative capital, and significantly reduce travel time in the most congested transport corridor in the country, and the only major corridor currently not supported by railway.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government is engaged in an aggressive development programme covering the entire country with special focus on the country’s commercial capital, Colombo. This has resulted in the opening up of many business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. The proposed LRT project is one such development project. Foreign businesses/investors could look at such development programmes since they create supplementary development programmes along with it. Sri Lanka is a hotbed for business/investment opportunities.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12032019/Z_8 |