Colombo: Sri Lanka is seeking a partner from the Indian subcontinent to develop a port designed to be its deepest and accommodate the world's largest container vessels, Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said today.
The Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) is looking for a foreign investor with about $400 million to complete the half-built East Container Terminal at the Colombo port, Ranatunga said.
"We are looking for an investor who should come in with a shipping operator from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh," the minister said in Colombo.
He said the investor should partner a shipping line that could guarantee additional traffic of one million containers through the port of Colombo, which currently handles over five million containers a year.
The Sri Lankan government is keen to involve a company from the Indian subcontinent because about 75 percent of container traffic through Colombo is trans-shipment cargo from the region, the minister said.
He said the SLPA had spent $80 million to build 430 metres of a 1,200 metre-terminal which he hopes to complete with foreign capital.
"We have no money to invest, but we want a 15 percent stake in a joint venture to develop this mega container terminal," he added.
The project comes three years after the opening of the $500 million Chinese-built Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), which made Colombo the only mega port between Dubai and Singapore.
Ranatunga said the East Container Terminal will be about two metres deeper, when completed, than the CICT.
The Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) is looking for a foreign investor with about $400 million to complete the half-built East Container Terminal at the Colombo port, Ranatunga said.
"We are looking for an investor who should come in with a shipping operator from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh," the minister said in Colombo.
The Sri Lankan government is keen to involve a company from the Indian subcontinent because about 75 percent of container traffic through Colombo is trans-shipment cargo from the region, the minister said.
Advertisement
"We have no money to invest, but we want a 15 percent stake in a joint venture to develop this mega container terminal," he added.
Advertisement
Ranatunga said the East Container Terminal will be about two metres deeper, when completed, than the CICT.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
China To Develop Strategic Deep Sea Port, Airport In Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Allows Foreign Ships To Restock At Its Ports After China Protest China Firm To Establish $4.5 Billion Refinery At Sri Lanka Port: Minister Israeli Jets Strike Yemen Rebels After Deadly Attack On Tel Aviv The 'Fake' CrowdStrike Worker Who Took Credit For Biggest-Ever IT Outage Woman On Scooter With 2 Kids Punched, Left Bleeding In Pune Road Rage Case At Least 39 Palestinians Killed As Israel Steps Up Gaza Bombardment Donald Trump's Former Physician Shares New Details On Gunshot Wound Israel Strikes Hezbollah Ammunition Depot In Lebanon, 4 Wounded: Report Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.