India increases financial allocation for grant projects in Sri Lanka

The Government of India (GOI) has increased the financial allocation for various grant projects being implemented in Sri Lanka due to the rapid changes in the economic landscape, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said.

Accordingly, the financial allocation has been increased by up to 50% in case of nine ongoing projects which are being executed under the India-Sri Lanka High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) framework.

“The overall financial commitment for these nine projects currently stands at close to LKR 3 billion, after the increase.

These projects cut across sectors ranging from education and health to agriculture, among others, the High Commission said.

“The GOI has completed more than 60 grant projects under the HICDP framework, covering all the 25 districts of Sri Lanka. In addition, 20 other projects are under different stages of implementation.

The HICDP framework was signed between the two countries in 2005 and subsequently renewed thrice, for a period of five years each time.

It may be recalled that the GOI also doubled the ceilings for individual projects as well as the overall financial capital outlay under the framework in January 2023,

The GOI’s overall development cooperation partnership portfolio in Sri Lanka is around USD 5 billion, of which USD 600 million are grants.

Demand-driven and people-centric projects carried out by the GOI span across areas such as infrastructure development, housing, livelihood assistance etc.

1990 Emergency ambulance service, railway track rehabilitation, Integrated Water Plants, the Indian Housing Project and Jaffna Cultural Center are among the landmark projects completed by the GOI in Sri Lanka, a statement issued by the High Commission said.