On Friday, the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers gave its green signal to hand over the management of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) to India's Shauri Aeronautics (Pvt) Ltd and Russia's Regional Management Company of Airports for a period of 30 years. Year.
"The Cabinet of Ministers expressed its consent to the proposal made by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation to hand over the management of Mattala Rajapaksa to M/s Shaurya Aeronautic (Pvt) Ltd. of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia for 30 years. International Airport,” the Government Information Department announced.
"A total of five institutions submitted their proposals and two Companies were selected.,
Built at the cost of a Chinese commercial loan of $209 million, of which $19 million was borrowed at high interest from China's Exim Bank, the airport has been plagued with problems since its opening in 2013 and is hardly operational. The flight is being operated. Its reach from the capital Colombo is 230 km.
Due to increasing losses, Sri Lanka has been looking for a commercial partner to manage the airport since 2016.
The National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that over the period 2017-2022, the MRIA incurred a loss of more than Rs 42.81 billion. The decision to transfer the management of the airport also comes as Sri Lanka is in talks with China's Exim Bank to restructure the airport's debt, a portion of which is worth $4.Billions were borrowed for various infrastructure projects.
The airport, close to the southern tip of the island in the Indian Ocean, is currently being used to handle chartered tourist flights from Russia and some countries in Central Asia.
The airport is close to the Chinese-run port at Hambantota – one of the major infrastructure projects under the Chinese government's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), like Gwadar in Pakistan and Djibouti in East Africa.
Unable to repay the huge Chinese debt of approximately $1.263 billion, Sri Lanka was forced to hand over the port on a 99-year lease to China Merchants Port Holding, which proved to be a classic example of 'debt trap diplomacy' that was used to capture Is focused on. Strategic assets are seized by countries unable to repay debts.Since the debt swap, China has attempted to use the port for vessels carrying out controversial operations. In April 2021, Sri Lanka asked a China-bound cargo ship to leave the strategic Hambantota port after it was found carrying radioactive uranium without informing Lankan authorities.
In August 2022, both India and the US had expressed strong opposition to the entry of the controversial Chinese naval vessel 'Yuan Wang 5' into Hambantota port.
Amid continued protests against China's efforts to bring research vessels into Sri Lankan waters, the Ranil Wickremesinghe government temporarily banned allowing research vessels into the Indian Ocean region, citing "security threats".
Suffering from continuing damaging impacts on its economy, including the East Sunday attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic and the international financial crisis, Sri Lanka is set to become the first Asian lower-middle-income country in two decades to default on its sovereign debt in May 2022.The island nation has declared default on more than US$51 billion of foreign debt, 52 percent of which is owed to China, the largest lender.
Amidst a financial crisis unprecedented since independence in 1948, India came to the rescue of its southern neighbor with a Line of Credit of over US$4 billion in various sectors, including essentials like petroleum, fertilizers, medicine, development of railways, infrastructure etc. Supply of goods was included. Defense Sector and Renewable Energy.
India also took the initiative with other bilateral lenders like Japan and the Paris Club to accelerate the debt restructuring process, which helped the country secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditional bailout package of about $3 billion over three years. got help.
"The Cabinet of Ministers expressed its consent to the proposal made by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation to hand over the management of Mattala Rajapaksa to M/s Shaurya Aeronautic (Pvt) Ltd. of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia for 30 years. International Airport,” the Government Information Department announced.
"A total of five institutions submitted their proposals and two Companies were selected.,
Built at the cost of a Chinese commercial loan of $209 million, of which $19 million was borrowed at high interest from China's Exim Bank, the airport has been plagued with problems since its opening in 2013 and is hardly operational. The flight is being operated. Its reach from the capital Colombo is 230 km.
Due to increasing losses, Sri Lanka has been looking for a commercial partner to manage the airport since 2016.
The National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that over the period 2017-2022, the MRIA incurred a loss of more than Rs 42.81 billion. The decision to transfer the management of the airport also comes as Sri Lanka is in talks with China's Exim Bank to restructure the airport's debt, a portion of which is worth $4.Billions were borrowed for various infrastructure projects.
The airport, close to the southern tip of the island in the Indian Ocean, is currently being used to handle chartered tourist flights from Russia and some countries in Central Asia.
The airport is close to the Chinese-run port at Hambantota – one of the major infrastructure projects under the Chinese government's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), like Gwadar in Pakistan and Djibouti in East Africa.
Unable to repay the huge Chinese debt of approximately $1.263 billion, Sri Lanka was forced to hand over the port on a 99-year lease to China Merchants Port Holding, which proved to be a classic example of 'debt trap diplomacy' that was used to capture Is focused on. Strategic assets are seized by countries unable to repay debts.Since the debt swap, China has attempted to use the port for vessels carrying out controversial operations. In April 2021, Sri Lanka asked a China-bound cargo ship to leave the strategic Hambantota port after it was found carrying radioactive uranium without informing Lankan authorities.
In August 2022, both India and the US had expressed strong opposition to the entry of the controversial Chinese naval vessel 'Yuan Wang 5' into Hambantota port.
Amid continued protests against China's efforts to bring research vessels into Sri Lankan waters, the Ranil Wickremesinghe government temporarily banned allowing research vessels into the Indian Ocean region, citing "security threats".
Suffering from continuing damaging impacts on its economy, including the East Sunday attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic and the international financial crisis, Sri Lanka is set to become the first Asian lower-middle-income country in two decades to default on its sovereign debt in May 2022.The island nation has declared default on more than US$51 billion of foreign debt, 52 percent of which is owed to China, the largest lender.
Amidst a financial crisis unprecedented since independence in 1948, India came to the rescue of its southern neighbor with a Line of Credit of over US$4 billion in various sectors, including essentials like petroleum, fertilizers, medicine, development of railways, infrastructure etc. Supply of goods was included. Defense Sector and Renewable Energy.
India also took the initiative with other bilateral lenders like Japan and the Paris Club to accelerate the debt restructuring process, which helped the country secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditional bailout package of about $3 billion over three years. got help.
