State-owned Sahasya takes over expressways from RDA

• Move from 1 April aims to boost efficiency, commercial management of expressway assets
• Expressway assets will be transferred to Sahasya within 6 months, following formal management agreement and approved timelines outlined in feasibility study 

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the transferring of daily operations and management of expressways from the Road Development Authority (RDA) to a state-owned company called Sahasya Investments (SIL) effective 1 April.

 “The move comes following a formal management agreement and is part of a broader initiative to enhance efficiency and commercial management of expressway assets,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing held yesterday.

He said post the formal management agreement, all relevant assets will be transferred to SIL within six months, in accordance with the approved timelines outlined in the feasibility study jointly conducted by the RDA and SIL.

On 26 June 2023, Cabinet approved a proposal to shift the expressway network from the RDA to SIL to optimise the management of land assets, highway loans and associated personnel in a more commercially viable manner. 

In addition, on 5 February 2024 the Cabinet approved the action plan for the transfer. “The transfer of daily operations and management responsibilities to SIL is expected to streamline processes, operations, enhance accountability, manage loans and improve overall performance in the management of expressway assets,” Gunawardena added.

He also assured that there will be no changes made to the employees of the company and their remunerations due to the transition.

 “The RDA was identified as one of the State-owned enterprises (SOE) to be restructured,” he added. 

The average annual capital and recurrent grant provided to the RDA, a non-commercial SOE in the last five years is over Rs. 100 billion. The annual income from expressways is around Rs. 10 billion and the maintenance cost is nearly Rs. 3 billion. Except for this income from expressways, the RDA depends almost entirely on the Budget.