Sri Lanka port in terminal construction deal

15 November 2011: The agreements to start building the first container terminal by Aitken Spence and China Merchants Holding (International) in a new deep water port being built next to Sri Lanka's Colombo port were signed last week. The agreements were the site lease agreement, shareholders agreement, direct lenders agreement and facility agreement, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority said in a statement.

The $ 500 million (approx Rs 2,500 crore) South Container Terminal is to be built and operated by Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT), a joint venture between Sri Lanka Ports Authority, China Merchants Holding, and Aitken Spence. China Merchants Holdings has 55 percent in CICT, Aitken Spence 30 percent and SLPA 15 percent. Construction work of the South Container Terminal will start on 1 December 2011 and first 600 mtrs will be in operation in early 2014.

Source: Lankabbusinessonline