India to support Southern Railway project

The Government of India has come forward to offer a supplementary line of credit of US$ 67.4 million for the rehabilitation of the Southern Colombo-Matara Railway Line. The line of credit had been requested by the Government of Sri Lanka to finance the second phase of work related to the rehabilitation of the Southern Railway Line.

India had earlier provided a US$ 100 million line of credit to finance the first phase of rehabilitation work on the Southern Railway Line. Two Indian companies-RITES and IRCON-had signed contracts in this regard in 2008 and work on the first phase of this project is under way.

The total rehabilitation package includes the supply of 20 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) sets, reconstruction of the railway line from Colombo to Matara, construction of maintenance sheds for the DMUs and training of Sri Lankan engineers in India in handling and maintenance of the new units.