EAST CONTAINER TERMINAL

Why in news?

  • Sri Lanka, Japan and India on Tuesday signed an agreement to jointly develop the East Container Terminal at the Colombo Port.

East Container Terminal:

  • The three countries will jointly build the East Container Terminal at the Port of Colombo.
  • As per the agreement the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) retains 100% ownership of the East Container Terminal (ECT), while the Terminal Operations Company is jointly owned,the SLPA
  • Sri Lanka will hold a 51% stake in the project and the joint venture partners will retain 49%.
  • Japan is likely to provide a 40-year soft loan with a 0.1% interest rate, details of India’s
    contribution to the initiative are awaited,

Importance of the Project for India:

  • Over 70% of the trans-shipment business at the strategically located ECT is linked to India
  • The involvement of India and Japan is the project is being seen as a big development aimed at neutralising the growing influence of China, which has poured money into the South Asian island nation under its mammoth Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure plan
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