Friday, February 18, 2011

Upgraded rail tracks in south coast of Sri Lanka: Big surge in vehicle import after duty cut

On February 16, 2011, Sri Lanka inaugurated its upgraded south coast rail track. The track has been upgraded with Indian aid and it would enable trains to travel at an speed of 100 km per hour reducing the overall traveling time.

The 42 kilometers long track from Galle to Matara has been upgraded by Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Limited, a state run company. This development is the first phase of the construction of railway tracks from Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo to Matara. These areas had been affected by tsunami and Indian government provided a loan of 167.40 million US dollars to rebuild these areas.

Now the second phase of the project has started under which, the track from Galle to Kalutara will be completed.

With the end of a 30-year long civil war and reduction in import duty the country is observing major surge in car import. In 2010, car import went up by 300 percent to 23,072 units.

In 2009, a total of 204,075 vehicles were registered with the motor traffic department of which there were only 5,762 cars. In 2010, there was a 76 percent increase in the number of vehicles to 359,243.

More than two million two-wheelers had been registered with the motor traffic department in 2010.

There is a heavy demand of cars in the northern and eastern part of the country that were previously war zones. In addition, banks’ improved loan and leasing facilities played a major role in this regard.

Related article:

Lanka Business Online (1)

Lanka Business Online (2)

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