Sri Lanka is in the final stages of negotiations with India over the long-awaited renovation of the Kankesanthurai (KKS) Port, with feasibility studies, design work and other major technical decisions already finalised, Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku said.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, the Deputy Minister said the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governing the project remained under negotiation between the two countries, with physical construction yet to begin.
Kodithuwakku said the conditions and terms of the agreement had been sent to the Attorney General’s Department, which had returned certain concepts that Sri Lanka had since complied with before submitting them to the Indian High Commission.
He explained that before the MOU could be signed, several matters, including verification of the agreed conditions, needed to be completed, a process he said was currently under way.
Despite the MOU still being finalised, the Deputy Minister stressed that the groundwork for the project itself was largely complete, noting that feasibility studies and design work had already been carried out and that many key decisions had been settled.
He said the remaining steps involved signing the MOU, receiving the grant and commencing construction work on the port.
Kodithuwakku also said that the proposed USD 60 million grant from India for the project remained available, even as discussions continued over how the funding would be structured.
He said the current round of talks was focused on determining how the grant would be utilised, what ownership arrangements would apply to the project, and the nature of the partnership that would ultimately be established between the two countries.