India provides USD 55 million LoC for procurement of urea fertiliser

A Letter of Credit (LoC) agreement was signed between Sri Lanka and India along with the Export-Import Bank of India today for the procurement of urea fertiliser following an urgent request from Sri Lanka. 

The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera, and the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay. Senior officials from the Sri Lankan and Indian sides were also present during the signing ceremony.
 
This LOC will help the government secure urea fertilizer for the ongoing paddy sowing ‘Yala’ season. In view of the critical requirement, Sri Lanka and EXIM Bank have agreed to complete all procurement procedures expeditiously so that urea supplies can reach Sri Lanka in a short span of time, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a statement.

During the signing ceremony, Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to GOI for the timely assistance. High Commissioner highlighted that the speedy finalization of the LOC testifies to the importance GOI attaches to the welfare of the people of Sri Lanka. 

“It may be recalled that in line with its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and as an earnest friend and partner of Sri Lanka, India has extended multi-pronged assistance to the people of Sri Lanka in the last few months,”

The support from India ranges from economic assistance of close to USD 3.5 billion to helping secure Sri Lanka’s food, health and energy security by supplying essential items like food, medicines, fuel, kerosene etc, the statement further added.