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by Hiran H. Senewiratne

The Government intends to purchase power at an economical rate from the private sector in a move towards reducing electricity costs, Minister of Power and Energy Karu Jayasuriya said.

"Under the Government's liberalisation of the power sector, any interested party is permitted to sell excess capacity either to the Government or to the neighbourhood," Minister Jayasuriya told the 'Third Key Persons Forum', organised by the Policy Support Unit of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka. He said the private sector has taken a leading role to invest in mini hydros, renewable sources such as wind and solar and other alternative power generation projects which will help reduce the cost of electricity.

Therefore, the Government will promote such projects. Jayasuriya said the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will be decentralised into five distribution companies by the end of this year as a measure to reduce electricity costs.The Minister also hinted that the Government is now in the process of changing the management structure of the CEB, which is very much similar to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). CPC, which made a loss of Rs 21 billion, is anticipated to make a six billion rupee profit by the end of this year.

With the opening of 10 rural electrification projects shortly, 85 per cent of the Jaffna peninsula including uncleared areas will also receive electricity, he said.Rural electrification played a pivotal role in the upliftment of community life in the recent past, he said.

The Minister also said that the Government has decided to start work at the coal power project to be situated at Hambantota concurrently with the Hambantota harbour project. To augment the power supply, the Upper Kotmale project will also be started as soon as the financing arrangements are finalised.

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