Sri Lankan government assigns key land plots in Hambantota Port to two local LP Gas providing companies
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Ports and Shipping, Mahinda Samarasinghe has reportedly said that a pair of key plots of land within the Hambantota Port premises has been assigned to two local-based Liquid Petroleum Gas providing companies.
Samarasinghe has made this observation in parliament last week.
Accordingly, Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. and Laugfs Gas PLC are to receive the lands in the Hambantota Port
The Minister has also said that the two plots of land in concern were valued at US$ 5,000 per hectare in 2010 and 2012, and were revalued at US$ 5600 per hectare in 2016.
“We held a series of discussions with the Chinese company with whom we have entered into Public Private Partnership concerning Hambantota Port, and designed a framework agreement for which we received Cabinet approval. Following this procedure, we have given these lands to the above mentioned companies,” Samarasinghe has reportedly said in response to a question posed by opposition MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara in parliament.
The Minister has also refuted allegations that land belonging to the Hambantota Port have been sold to China and has said that such lands have been leased to the International Hambantota Group and Hambantota International Services Ltd. for further development.
OSL take:
The industrial zone within the Hambantota Port premises would be an ideal investment opportunity since industries located in the zone would have easy access to the port as well as an airport just a few kilometers away. Since local companies are also setting up plants in the zone and several Chinese companies have already invested in securing land plots, other foreign businesses could explore the possibility of getting a land in the Hambantota Port to set up base in order to have easy access to Asian markets.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/26092018/Z_8 |