New state firm to handle Lotus Tower operations
Lotus Tower at night
Sri Lanka is eyeing more foreign investment including Chinese inflows following the kick-start of commercial activities of the 350 metre tall Lotus Tower in Colombo via a new state-owned Business Enterprise (SOBE).
The SOBE will be established under the purview of the Finance Ministry to commercialise Asia’s tallest tower and handle its maintenance and financial operations, a senior official of the Technology Ministry said.
The decision of the government to swiftly move towards the commercialisation of the Tower could be followed by foreign businesses/investors looking at business opportunities in the island, he added.
The Treasury has been entrusted with the task of establishing a new SOBE to commercialise the Lotus Tower and enable it to operate as a business entity.
The telecommunication tower resembling the lotus flower was built at a cost of US$104.3 million, funded by the EXIM Bank of China and the Sri Lanka government in the ratio of 80 to 20 percent with China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC) as the general contractor.
The Lotus Tower is expected to function as Sri Lanka’s ”digital TV tower” with fibre optic cables and is fully equipped with necessary facilities.
The tower was built on land owned by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) but there were no documents to prove that land had been acquired by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) for the project.
But the matter had been mutually settled and a lease agreement was signed by the SLPA and UDA at that time.
According to the latest cabinet memorandum, the accumulated arrears of land lease payment was amounting to Rs.1.16 billion up to now.
A sum of Rs 300 million has to be paid to the SLPA in annual installments and the total lease amount is Rs.1.5 billion which was still pending, the memorandum revealed.
The cabinet of ministers has decided recently to give more land to the Lotus Tower project in Colombo for its expansion and comecialisation activities.
Before the commencement of commercialisation and modernisation process, an over 4-acre land located in close proximity to the Tower will be transferred to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) by the UDA for commercial activities including setting up of a modern water park near Beira Lake in Colombo.
According to the Information Department, installation of food stalls, construction of offices, accommodation and infrastructure facilities for the staff as well as further extension of the existing car park are expected to be included in the expansion plan of the project.