(UTV | COLOMBO) – The Government of India has entered into a bilateral loan agreement to grant a Line of Credit amounting to US$ 100 million through the Export Import Bank of India for the implementation of solar power projects in Sri Lanka.
The agreement for the Line of Credit signed by the Sri Lankan Government and the Export Import Bank of India was exchanged between Finance Secretary S. R. Attygalle and Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay in the presence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and State Minister Duminda Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday morning (16).
Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage, Ministry of Power Secretary Wasantha Perera and Indian High Commission and the Finance Ministry officials were also present.
Measures have been taken to increase the contribution by renewable energy sources to the national power grid by enhancing solar power generation as per the National Policy Framework ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ by the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
A key plan of the Government is to generate solar power by obtaining the contribution of state-owned buildings, places of worship and houses of the low-income families. It is expected to provide financial benefit to low-income households and to curtail the expenses incurred by the state institutions for electricity, from the project. Steps will also be taken to provide facilities to store solar energy in batteries for the low-income families that are unable to access the national power grid. The project also includes generating power by installing floating solar panels as a solution to land scarcity. Under the first phase of this, plans have been initiated to generate electricity required for the Parliament centering the Diyawanna Lake as a model project.
