Minister confident of $ 1,000m FDI target this year

Minister of Investment Promotion Rohita Bogollagama said that the FDI received by the country during the first four months of this year exceeds US$ 300 million apart from investments on power projects. The investment on power projects is around another US$450 million and he was confident of achieving the US$ 1,000 million FDI target this year.

The Minister was speaking after signing the letter of intent between the BOI and NGB Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd, India for the feasibility study for a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for the Colombo metropolitan area.

MRTS, a rapid transit system, has proven to be an effective solution to ease congestion in cities across Europe and Asia, in addition to being cost-effective. Having observed its advantages in regional economic expansion and city development, the government is looking to implement a similar network in the Colombo Metropolitan area.

A group of companies led by NEB Infrastructure(Pvt) Ltd of India with Siemens AG of Germany, OPUS International Malaysia and UTI Bank in India expressed their willingness to the Sri Lankan government to undertake the pre-feasibility for the proposed MRTS project.

The government will make available to the group existing study reports and materials relating to the setting up of an MRTS in Colombo.

The feasibility study will involve the study of route alignment, estimation of transport demand and distribution projected traffic loads and cost estimates.

NEB Infrastructure, a Bangalore based company that has been involved in a number of large-scale infrastructure projects in India.

The Chairman and Managing Director of NEB Infrastructure said that the company is involved in metro projects in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Ahmedabad in India. He said that the metro rail will be the solution as well as a link for all growing cities with a population of over two million.

Siemens AG is a German multinational company and global player in the provision of rail based mass transit solutions.

Over many decades the authorities were planning a solution for traffic congestion in the Colombo city and transport problems between Colombo and the major cities.

(GW)