Foundation laid for 51 India-funded houses at Badulla estate

Saturday, 3 October 2026 00:11 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The foundation stone was laid on 29 September, 2026 for the construction of 51 new housing units at Alagolla Estate in Badulla district under the Indian Housing Project (IHP), the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.

The stone was laid by Indian Assistant High Commissioner in Kandy Saranya V. S., alongside Plantation and Community Infrastructure Minister K.V. Samantha Vidyaratna and Deputy Minister Pradeep Sundaralingam.

The housing units are being constructed under Stage 2 of IHP Phase IV, which was launched in October 2025 by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Phase IV envisages the construction of 10,000 houses for the plantation community across six provinces of Sri Lanka.

IHP is a flagship development initiative by the Government of India in Sri Lanka for the construction of around 60,000 houses through grant assistance of over INR 18 billion. Under the first two phases, 46,000 houses were built or renovated in the Northern and Eastern provinces, followed by 4,000 houses in plantation regions during the third phase.

The Indian-origin Tamil community and plantation regions remain important under India’s development cooperation partnership with Sri Lanka, the High Commission said. Beyond housing, landmark initiatives include the construction of a multi-specialty hospital in Dickoya, the establishment of smart classrooms, the upgrading of nine plantation schools and the announcement of Indian support for the development of the Seetha Eliya Temple. Further, a multi-sectoral package of INR 750 million was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2023 to mark 200 years since the arrival of the Indian-origin Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

The event was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, representatives from the Plantation Human Development Trust and local beneficiaries from Alagolla Estate.