Strengthening connectivity, India gifts 160 railway passenger coaches to Sri Lanka

New Delhi, September 8: Extending a supporting hand to Sri Lanka, India has decided to supply 160 railway passenger coaches to Sri Lanka valued at around 82 million US dollars under concessional financing. The agreement to supply coaches custom-made in India was signed between RITES Limited of India and Sri Lankan government in Colombo last evening.

The passenger coaches will be custom-made in India to suit the requirements of Sri Lanka Railways. The current contract is part of a line of credit agreement for the procurement of railway rolling stock and upgradation of rail tracks worth 318 million US dollars, which was signed between EXIM Bank of India and Government of Sri Lanka in June 2017.

Procurements of rolling stock from India which underway also include 6 DMUs, 10 locomotives, 20 container carrier wagons, and 30 fuel tank wagons. RITES Ltd. will be supplying the DMUs and locomotives, whereas Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd. will be supplying the wagons.

India has already completed projects close to 1 billion US dollars under concessional financing in the railway sector in Sri Lanka including railway lines to Jaffna and Thalai Mannar. This project is in continuation of India's efforts to partner with Sri Lanka in people-oriented connectivity projects in Sri Lanka.