Sri Lanka receives 20 state-of-the-art railway passenger coaches from India

     Colombo, Sep 18 (PTI) Sri Lanka has received 20 state-of-the-art custom-made train coaches from India as a part of the over USD 82 million contract signed between the two countries under which India will assist the island nation in the development of its railway infrastructure.
     The 20 coaches supplied by the state-run Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) Ltd reached Colombo Port on Friday, the Indian High Commission here said on Saturday.
     The consignment is a part of the contract to supply 160 passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways, funded under an Indian Line of Credit of USD 318 million. The value of this contract is USD 82.6 million, it said.
     "These state-of-the-art ‘India-made’ modern passenger coaches have been custom made and built as per the requirements of Sri Lanka Railways," the High Commission said.
     With this consignment, a total of 60 coaches out of 160 have been supplied to Lanka and 20 more coaches are ready to be shipped from India. The first lot of 10 passenger coaches arrived Lanka in March.
     Under the USD 318 million Line of Credit, RITES Ltd is also scheduled to supply 2 AC diesel multiple units (DMU) to Sri Lanka Railways. The first AC DMU set (13 coaches) is ready for shipment from India. Other projects under this line includes upgrading of the Railway Line from Maho to Omanthai (128 km), Maho-Anuradhapura signalling project and double tracking of railway line from Polgahawela to Kurunegala.
     India’s overall development assistance to Lanka is close to USD 3.5 billion. This includes projects under Lines of Credit as well as grants. Development of railway infrastructure in Lanka is a sector of special focus, the Indian mission said.
     In this connection, reconstruction of railway lines (268 km), installation of signal and telecommunication system (330 km), upgrading of coastal railway line (118 km) have already been completed, it said, adding that various other projects are at different stages of implementation. PTI CORR SCY SCY

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)