Mahindra Group to invest around $250 mln in Trincomalee/Katunayake

Mahindra & Mahindra Group, a leading Indian company, is to invest around US$250 million in a massive infrastructure development project in the Trincomalee new Export Processing Zone and an IT park at Katunayake as a joint venture with the Board of Investment (BOI).

Senior Vice President of Mahindra Group Arun Nanda who was in Sri Lanka has entered into a formal agreement with the BOI to implement these two projects. Arrangements to start the Katunayake IT Park will be finalized next month. The Mahindra Group employs over 30,000 people and has several state-of-the-art facilities in India and overseas. Minister of Investment Promotion Navin Dissanayake told a news conference in Colombo on Thursday that Mahendra has asked for 3,000 acres for the infrastructure development project in Trinco EPZ and “we are making arrangements to acquire land for this purpose.”

Director General (Infrastructure) of BOI, L.D. Dickman told the Sunday Times FT that extensions to the existing EPZ at Katunayake is likely to be titled “Airport City” or “SAARC City” to attract the business community of India and other SAARC countries.

Dissanayake revealed that the BOI’S FDI target of US$1 billion will fall short of 300 million this year owing to reasons beyond the control of the government mainly the war situation in the northeast.