Ircon completes five years in Lanka
Ircon International Limited, a Government of India undertaking, under
the Ministry of Indian Railways, has completed five years in Sri Lanka.
The company was responsible for laying the Northern railway tracks which
enabled the people in the North to resume travel by rail after 30 years.
Project Director Shyam Lal Gupta, said that Ircon International
Limited launched its Sri Lanka charter with the mandate to upgrade the
Kalutara-Galle-Matara coastal railway line in March 2009.
"The coastal railway line was devastated during the tsunami in
December 2004. The project involved the rehabilitation and improvement
of tracks to a modern railway track with a speed potential of 100 kmph.
This 114 km-long project was funded through an Indian line of credit
and was completed ahead of schedule in two phases. Phase-I, Galle-Matara
(42 km) was completed and handed over to Sri Lanka Railways in February
2011, while Phase-II, Galle-Kalutara (72 km) was put to commercial
operations in April 2012".
The government of Sri Lanka requested Ircon to submit a proposal for
reconstructing the Northern Railway Lines and when subsequent to the end
of the war, when the President of Sri Lanka visited India in June 2010,
the Government of India announced that they would extend a very
concessional line of credit of US $ 800 million for the restoration of
the railway lines and the installation of the signalling and
telecommunication system in the Northern Province.
The line of credit is a soft loan on low interest rates. There is 20
year repayment period with a five year moratorium. |