Token of strong camaraderie, India signs pact with Sri Lanka for constructing 1200 houses using Indian grant aid
Colombo, October 15: Making their bilateral camaraderie strong and living up to the policy of ‘Neighbors First’, India and Sri Lanka signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of 1200 houses through 50 model villages, using Indian grant assistance of 60 crore Srilankan rupees.
With this, India's collaboration with Srilankan government under Model Villages Housing Program stands at 2400 houses in 100 model villages. As per the new MoUs, 600 houses each will be constructed in the Southern and Northern Provinces. The project will target low income landless and homeless beneficiaries.
A cash grant of 5 lakh Sri Lankan rupees will be provided to each beneficiary in installments, linked to the stages of construction of the house. India’s overall commitment for building houses in Sri Lanka stands at nearly 63000. Indian financial commitment, under grant, for housing in Sri Lanka currently stands at around 350 million US dollars.
The MoUs were signed by Taranjit Singh Sandhu, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, and Bernard Vasantha, Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Construction, in the presence of Sajith Premadasa, Minister of Housing and Construction.
The signing took place during a special ceremony held in Hambantota for vesting to the beneficiaries the Sathsurugama model village.
The overall development portfolio of Government of India in Sri Lanka is close to 3 billion US dollars. India partners with Sri Lanka according to Sri Lanka’s needs and the development projects are being executed all across Sri Lanka.
Earlier too, as a gesture of goodwill for the Tamilians who reside in Sri Lanka, India handed over the first lot of houses built under USD 350 million project for Indian-origin people in Sri Lanka's tea plantation areas. The Indian Housing Project is ought to be one of the largest one in India in any country. Almost 404 houses were handed over to the Indian-origin people.