Govt. awards $ 252 m dam deal to China’s Sinohydro

Reuters: Sri Lanka has awarded a $ 252.3 million project to Chinese dam builder Sinohydro to construct a reservoir, the Government said on Friday.

“The cabinet granted approval to award the contract for the construction... to Sinohydro to a sum of $252.3 million and to enter into a commercial agreement accordingly,” the official Cabinet decisions released by the Government showed. The Cabinet memorandum obtained by Reuters stated Sinohydro would arrange finance assistance for the project from a bank in China on terms and conditions acceptable to Sri Lanka.



Officials from Sinohydro were not available for comments.

The Chinese firm is already involved in a $ 1.5 billion port construction and a $ 100 million road project in the former northern war zone.

Sri Lanka has been increasingly depending on China for its post-war infrastructure project financing amid heavy pressure from Western countries to probe war crimes stemming from the last phase of a 25-year war ended in May 2009.

China was Sri Lanka’s largest lender in 2009 and 2010, giving $ 1.2 billion and $ 821 million respectively.