The High Commission of India in Colombo and relevant authorities of the Government of Sri Lanka held a series of meetings during the last two weeks to review the status of select ongoing development cooperation projects.
"The two sides paid particular attention to the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions and identified joint efforts to fast track the completion of the projects as they would benefit the people of Sri Lanka in the current juncture," the Indian High Commission said in a statement today (08).
On 5 January 2021, Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob and Bhadrani Jayawardhana, Secretary, Ministry of Internal Trade, Food Security and Consumer Welfare co-chaired the Project Steering Committee meeting on design, construction and commissioning of the 5000 MT temperature controlled warehouse in Dambulla.
Earlier, on 24 December 2020, Deputy High Commissioner and Dr. Kapila Perera, Secretary, Ministry of Education co-chaired the Project Steering Committee meeting on the Project for renovation of 27 schools in the Northern Province under Indian assistance.
This meeting was held through virtual mode and also had participation from Secretary, Provincial Ministry of Education, Northern Province Ilangavon. Progress on finalization of the Project for construction of 3200 sanitation units in Batticaloa was achieved during the meeting between Deputy High Commissioner Jacob and A. Senanayake Secretary, State Ministry for Backward Rural Areas Development and Promotion of Domestic Animal Husbandry and Minor Economic Crop Cultivation on 17 December 2020.
These projects are in continuation of Government of India’s people-oriented development cooperation partnership with Government of Sri Lanka. India’s overall commitment of development assistance to Sri Lanka stands at a total of around US$ 3.5 billion and among these, US$ 560 million is under grants.
India has undertaken more than 70 people-oriented development projects in various fields including health, education, housing, skill development, infrastructure, vocational training among others, all across the country. About, 20 such projects are currently under progress.
