The Government will extend a clarification on the current confusion over India’s approach to invest in the Mattala Rajapakse International Airport (MRIA) this week, Ashok Abeysinghe, Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation told the Sunday Observer.
“There have been several rounds of discussions with Indian aviation officials and some officials visited the MRIA and checked the conditions of the runway. Anyway secretary of the ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation possesses all documents related to this. Now he is out of the country and once he returns next week, I can further comment on this” deputy minister said.
Earlier this month Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva informed the parliament about ongoing discussions with Aviation Authority of India over commencing joint operations at MRIA. It was later reported that the Aviation Authority of India has primarily agreed to invest US$ 210 million (around Rs. 35 billion) in the MRIA under the joint venture between two neighboring nations. However, when this was discussed in Indian parliament last week, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha denied claims on India investing in Mattala.
MRIA was built in 2013 with an investment of US$ 190 million (around Rs. 30 billion) through a 15-year loan from the Chinese government.