Sri Lanka’s UDA receives investor proposals for Krrish project
The Morning: The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has received several proposals from potential investors with regard to the Krrish Square project, amidst the ongoing legal controversy over the future of the current developer.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, UDA Real Estate and Land Management Deputy Director General E.A.C. Piyashantha stated that they had received several proposals with respect to the Krrish Square project, including one through the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI).
However, he stated that before discussions moved any further, a decision would have to be made regarding the UDA’s existing lease agreement with Krrish Transworks Colombo Ltd. – the developer of the Krrish Square project.
Responding to a query by The Sunday Morning Business regarding the legal proceedings instituted by a major creditor of Krrish Transworks Colombo seeking the intervention of courts to compulsorily wind up the company, Piyashantha admitted that they were aware of the legal proceedings but claimed that cancelling the lease agreement was not a straightforward decision.
“This whole situation has become quite complicated. We have only entered into a lease agreement with Krrish Transworks Colombo. We can cancel the lease on the grounds that they are non-performing. But just cancelling will not help because we don’t know how to proceed beyond that since we are unaware of their liabilities. They have pre-sold apartments, so we will have to do our due diligence before we make a decision,” he stated.
Commenting further, he claimed that although they had received several proposals, there was no clear-cut credible investment proposal on the table yet.
Previously, The Sunday Morning Business reported that it had learnt from credible sources regarding the existence of legal proceedings instituted by a major creditor of Krrish Transworks Colombo before the Commercial High Court in Colombo, seeking to wind up Krrish Transworks Colombo.
According to sources, the winding-up action had come up before the court on 28 February and has now been fixed for 5 May for the order on the winding up of the company and the appointment of a liquidator.
Furthermore, several other creditors had also sought to intervene in the matter amidst the objections of the counsel appearing on behalf of Krrish Transworks Colombo.
The creditors seeking to intervene had stressed on the importance of the court’s intervention by claiming that the directors of the company were currently engaged in a deceitful campaign to illegally syphon off its assets.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s development programme has presented a host of new business/investment opportunities given the country’s path to becoming a regional hub. The government of Sri Lanka has listed a host of development programmes that cover all key economic sectors while giving prominence to the further development and beautification of the country’s commercial capital, Colombo. The ongoing activities and economic expansion are evident with the ongoing development programmes in Colombo and those in the pipeline. With Sri Lanka’s target of becoming a regional hub supported by the country’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the strong trade ties with other countries, Colombo would see fast paces development as the commercial capital. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s urban development programme given the country’s growth and business potential.