Tuesday Jun 23, 2026
Tuesday Jun 23, 2026
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| Late Dr. Saman Kelegama | Veenath Indrajith |
Veenath Indrajith, a fourth-year undergraduate from the Department of Business Economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ), has been selected as the winner of the Dr. Saman Kelegama Memorial Research Grant for 2026.
Indrajith’s academic and professional interests lie in economics, finance, investment, and policy-oriented research. In addition to his undergraduate studies, he is currently pursuing the Chartered Accountancy qualification in Sri Lanka, demonstrating a strong commitment to analytical rigour and professional excellence. He aspires to contribute to evidence-based policymaking through applied economic research.
Indrajith’s research study, titled “Small Vehicle Businesses and Household Investors Using the Second-Hand Car Market as an Alternative Investment Method in the Colombo District of Sri Lanka,” will adopt a qualitative research approach to explore the motivations, experiences, perceived returns, and risks associated with investing in used vehicles.
By analysing household-level decision-making and investment behaviour, the research aims to shed light on a relatively underexplored area of Sri Lanka’s alternative investment landscape. The findings are expected to provide valuable insights for policymakers, particularly in relation to financial literacy, household investment strategies, and the development and regulation of alternative investment markets in Sri Lanka.
The research grant, established in 2018, honours the legacy of the late Dr. Saman Kelegama, former Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), whose work significantly shaped public policy discourse on socio-economic development in Sri Lanka and the broader South Asian region.
The grant is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student from a Sri Lankan university, with the aim of encouraging innovative, policy-relevant research and nurturing the next generation of policy thinkers. As part of this grant, Indrajith will receive training and mentoring from IPS senior researchers to complete the proposed study.
