ECONOMYNEXT – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will get there in Sri Lanka on April 24 on a a person-day formal check out to inaugurate Tehran-assisted $529 million truly worth Uma Oya multipurpose advancement challenge with 120MW hydro electric power era capability, official resources said.
The announcement on President Raisi’s take a look at will come two days just after Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel in its to start with immediate attack on Israeli territory, a retaliatory strike that raised the menace of a wider regional conflict.
“The President is traveling to to inaugurate the Omaoya project. He will be on a a single-working day stop by,” an official at Iran embassy in Colombo advised EconomyNext.
A Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry official confirmed the shift.
This is the to start with time an Iranian President coming to Sri Lanka Iranian immediately after then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s stop by in April 2008.
The Omaoya challenge was initially scheduled to be concluded in 2015, but experienced been delayed many times owing to surprising issued faced all through the undertaking cycle and funding difficulty after the United States imposed economic sanctions on Iran and financial disaster in Sri Lanka.
The challenge was started in 2010 and the funding was to be obtained as financial loan grant from the Iranian government. Nonetheless, Iran was capable to supply $50 million prior to the sanctions. Sri Lanka has to bear the charge just after the sanctions.
The venture consists of storing h2o in two reservoirs with dams prior to currently being brought via a 23 km tunnel to two turbines located underground and building hydro power with a capacity of 120 megawatts and included to the countrywide grid.
Following electricity technology, the water is predicted to be brought to 3 reservoirs although providing drinking water to 20,000 acres of aged and new paddy fields in equally the Yala and Maha cultivating seasons.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the design was signed involving the two nations around the world in 2007 although Sri Lanka’s Cupboard accredited the execution of the deal settlement in between the Executing Agency, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Irrigation and H2o Management (MOIWM) of the GOSL and Iran’s FARAB Energy and Water Jobs (FC).
When commencing the challenge on March 15, 2010, the scheduled date of completion of the job was on March 15, 2015. But the agenda completion day was prolonged to December 31, 2020 owing to the unexpected drinking water ingress into the head race tunnel and adopted by social impacts.
The trade amongst the each nations endured right after the US sanctions. On the other hand, Sri Lanka inked a offer in December 2021 with Iran to established off export of tea to Iran from a legacy oil credit rating owed by point out-operate Ceylon Petroleum Company to the Nationwide Iranian Oil Business.
Sri Lanka owes $251 million for crude imported just before the US imposed sanctions on Iran. (Colombo/April 15/2024)