India supply 20 railway passenger coaches to Sri Lanka
New Delhi: Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) Ltd delivered 20 railway passenger coaches to Colombo Port on Friday last week as part of a deal to supply 160 passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways.
The project is funded by an Indian line of credit worth USD 318 million; the contract is worth USD 82.6 million, officials informed.
In all, 60 coaches have so far been dispatched to Sri Lanka, with another 20 on their way from India.
In March 2021, the first batch of passenger coaches reached Sri Lanka, after which the requisite trials were conducted. These cutting-edge, India-made, new passenger carriages were custom-designed and manufactured to fulfil Sri Lanka Railways’ requirements.
RITES Ltd is also expected to supply 2 air-conditioned diesel multiple units (DMU) to Sri Lanka Railways under the USD 318 million line of credit. The first AC DMU set of 13 coaches is ready to ship from India and is awaiting Sri Lankan ship nomination.
Other projects on this route include the upgrade of the railway line from Maho to Omanthai (128 km), the Maho-Anuradhapura signalling project, and the double-tracking of the railway line from Polgahawela to Kurunegala.
RITES Ltd had earlier provided Sri Lanka with 6 DMUs and 10 Diesel Locomotive Railways, which were paid through a separate line of credit.
The Indian Embassy in Colombo stated that New Delhi had provided nearly USD 3.5 billion in development assistance to Sri Lanka. This contains both lines of credit and grant projects/initiatives.
The development of railway infrastructure in Sri Lanka is a high priority for India and railway line rehabilitation (268 kilometres), signal and telecommunication system installation (330 kilometres), and coastal railway line up-gradation (118 kilometres) have all been completed. Several more projects are in various stages of completion.
(Venkatesh Iyer)
