Colombo, Oct 25 (UNI) Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group that was chosen to develop a major port terminal project in Sri Lanka, is in Colombo and is set to meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa besides other top government officials, media reports said.
Gautam Adani arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday night, the Daily Mirror said, quoting officials.
Adani is scheduled to meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today.
The billionaire businessman accompanied by a delegation of 10 members flew into the island by two special flights, it said.
The visit comes days after the Adani Group last month signed a deal worth over $ 700 million to build-operate-transfer (BOT) the West Container Terminal (WCT) at the Colombo Port.
According to a report in The Sunday Morning, the visit is also likely in connection with proposed renewable energy projects earmarked in the Northern Province.
One of the Indian investors interested in the renewable power generation projects in the North is Adani Green Energy.
The move by Indian investors to enter the renewable energy industry in Sri Lanka, particularly for the projects in the Northern Province islands, comes following the Indian Government raising security concerns with their counterparts in Sri Lanka, after a Chinese firm was shortlisted in a tender that was floated by the Sri Lankan Government for renewable energy projects in the islands off the North.
India has raised concerns over Chinese involvement in projects in close proximity to the Tamil Nadu coast, it said.
India’s concerns were echoed by politicians in the North and East of the country.
The $12 million project was to be awarded to MS/Sinosoar-Etechwin, a joint venture in China. Under the project, international competitive bids were called to install hybrid renewable energy systems in the three islands off Jaffna. The project was to be funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Government sources told The Sunday Morning that the Sri Lankan Government was considering extending the deadline of a recently floated tender on renewable energy to facilitate bids by a number of keen investors from the UAE, the US, and India, among others.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Embassy in China tweeted last week that China National Energy Engineering and Construction Company Ltd. (CNEE) had offered to invest $800 million in renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka.
“The China National Energy Engineering and Construction Company Ltd. (CNEE) has offered to invest $ 800 million in Sri Lanka on 400 MW renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka. The equipment and knowhow will be supplied by KE Electric,” the Sri Lankan Mission in Beijing tweeted.
UNI/RN