Energy minister Udaya Gammanpila claims India wanted to develop the Trincomalee oil tank farm for security, not commercial, reasons.
Speaking to the Indian news channel Wion, he revealed as to why it took more than two decades for India and Sri Lanka to finalise the deal.
“Well, India wanted to have all 99 tanks in their control and then sublease to Sri Lankan entities who want to use these tanks. So when I became the minister, I realised that India’s interest is not commercial but it’s a security concern.”
“This oil tank farm has 100 tanks with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons each, 8 million barrels of oil can be stored in this oil tank farm. If an enemy of India takes control of these tanks, the enemy can attack India without any uninterrupted break because of the unlimited fuel supply on their ships, planes and submarines.”
“So, this is India’s worry that they don’t want to develop this,” he said.
“This is my own assessment — If they (India) could bomb and destroy this, their problem is over. I realised this and I agreed with them that we will not allow a third party to involve in the development of these tanks without the Indian consent. That’s what they exactly wanted,” he said.
Gammanpila said that they had to change the proposals to include India’s concerns.
“So, I changed the frame, and our counter-proposal was accepted by India. It was a tough negotiation. We had 22 rounds of negotiations during the period of 16 months.”
“There were heated exchanges and somehow, in the end, we have reached a consensus and the entire oil tank farm will now be used for the first time since the Second World War,” the minister said.