Construction of Colombo Port West Terminal begins

The construction work of the newly built West Terminal of Colombo Port(CWIT) commenced under the patronage of the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva. Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Bagle participated in this event as a special guest.

The ministry emphasizes that this entire project will cost 789 million US dollars. 51% of this total investment belongs to Adani, 34% to John Keels, and 15% to Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The length of the jetty constructed under this project is 1,400 meters. The total terminal area is 65 hectares. The container capacity of this terminal is 3 million.

The construction company emphasizes that an 800-meter long jetty will be constructed and 18 automatic terminal cranes will be installed under the first phase of this terminal, which will be built in two phases. Speaking at yesterday’s ceremony, the minister said that the Indian government had given a lot of support to solve the economic crisis that Sri Lanka is currently facing.

He said that after the completion of this project, a large number of Sri Lankan youths will get job opportunities and the Sri Lanka Port Authority will be able to earn a large amount of foreign exchange.Speaking on this occasion, Indian High Commissioner Gopal Bagle said that the friendship between the two countries will be further strengthened through this project, and he would like to extend his best wishes as the Indian High Commissioner.

KDS Ruwanchandra, Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Keith D Barnard, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority were present at this event. Deputy High Commissioner of India Vinod Jacob, CEO Adani Port – Dredge Unmesh Abhyankar, Deputy Chairman John Keells Holdings Gihan Cooray, CEO Colombo West International Terminal Pvt Ltd (CWIT (Pvt) Ltd) -Harikrishan Sundaram and a large number of people participated.