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India sees a chance to make Sri Lanka ‘a virtual province’ amid its rivalry with China
- Indian companies have made a flurry of business deals with Sri Lanka since the struggling island nation declared bankruptcy in 2022
- A new lease on a Chinese-financed airport shows New Delhi is gaining the upper hand over Beijing in their rivalry to woo Colombo, analysts say
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India is set to wield greater influence in Sri Lanka as its companies flock to sign deals with the heavily indebted island nation in sectors ranging from energy to maritime logistics, even as some analysts question their commercial viability.
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Among the recent high-profile deals involving Indian companies was a 20-year power purchase agreement with Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of India’s Adani Group, announced by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier this month.
Adani Green is building two 484 megawatt wind power stations in the town of Mannar and the village of Pooneryn in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province – to be added to the national grid by 2025 – for a cost of US$442 million.
The deal came six months after the US International Development Finance Corporation announced that it would provide US$553 million in financing for a port terminal project in Colombo being developed and partly owned by the Adani Group.
Last month, the Sri Lankan government awarded the management of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in southern Sri Lanka to an Indian-Russian joint venture comprising Shaurya Aeronautics (Pvt) Ltd of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia.
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