Sri Lankan government raises funds for reservoir in Thalpitigala across Uma Oya to be built by the Chinese
The government of Sri Lanka has reportedly said the state owned People’s Bank has agreed to provide US$ 26.1 million of counterpart funds for a US$ 174 million reservoir in Thalpitigala to be built across Uma Oya.
According to reports, the Export Import Bank of China will provide 85 percent of the funds and China Synohydro Co. Ltd has been awarded the contract to build it.
The Cabinet of Ministers has reportedly approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to provide the balance US$ 26.1 million required by the project through a loan from People’s Bank.
The project involves the construction of 46 meter high dam across Uma Oya, which will allow the release of 20 million cubic meters of water to 688 hectares of paddy land, reports state.
A 15 MegaWatt hydro power station is to also be built and it is estimated to generate about 52 GigaWatts of energy a year.
OSL take:
The allocation of part funding for the reservoir project by the Sri Lankan government together with the Chinese government indicates the continuous focus on the island nation’s development agenda. While this would encourage foreign investments in to the country to promote Sri Lanka’s development agenda, the Thalpitigala reservoir project has also created an investment opportunity in the power and energy sector. Interested foreign companies could look at the project to build the 15MW hydro power plant along with the reservoir project.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/05042018/Z_4 |