No problem if Adani funds Colombo project with own resources: Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government wants to see the deep-water container terminal project at Colombo port go ahead and has no problem with the Adani-led conglomerate using its own resources to fund it, ports minister Bimal Rathnayaka has said.

In an exchange filing late on 10 December, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd said the project "is on track for commissioning by early next year" and added that the company will fund the ongoing project through "internal accruals", aligning with its capital management strategy.

“It is a very important project for revenue generation of the port, we are keen to see it go ahead," Rathnayaka told reporters during a tour of the port on Thursday.

He said the Adani Group’s decision to reject funding from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was its own and Sri Lanka had no issues with it.

In November 2023, the DFC had agreed to provide a USD 553 million loan to support the development, construction, and operation of a deep-water container terminal called the Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The CWIT is being developed by a consortium of Adani Ports, Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc, and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

DFC financing was part of the US government's broader efforts to counter China's growing influence in the region and was seen as an endorsement of Adani's ability to develop world-class infrastructure.

However, the loan process stalled after the DFC asked that the agreement between Adani and the SLPA be amended to align with their conditions, which then went under review by Sri Lanka’s attorney-general. As the project is nearing completion, Adani Ports, which holds 51 per cent of the venture, chose to proceed with the project without funding from the DFC, officials privy to the process had explained.

Rathnayaka, however, said the government is still opposed to another Adani project— the wind power project in the northeastern district of Mannar — as it was against Sri Lanka’s interests.

“The president and the government have informed the court our reasons to oppose it," Rathnayaka said, referring to fundamental rights petitions filed against it by environmentalists.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his campaign rallies for the 21 September presidential election had vowed to cancel Adani Green Energy’s wind power project in Mannar.