Sri Lanka PM hands over redeveloped homes built by Tata

New Delhi/Colombo, Aug 1 (IANS) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday handed over well-built houses with all modern amenities to 626 families and fully developed commercial spaces to around 114 shop owners - built by India's Tata Housing as the first part of its One Colombo Redevelopment Project.

The investment in the project - for redevelopment of century-old, high density dwelling units and shops - was around LKR 7,000 million. The unique project by Tata Housing has ensured re-housing of the existing community in a residential complex with improved infrastructure.

The first phase of the Slave Island Redevelopment Project, Metro Homes was inaugurated on Thursday and handed over to the beneficiaries by Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe thanked the Indian Government for the development partnership assistance over the years.

He specially mentioned the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka after the Easter attacks, which provided a big boost to the confidence in Sri Lanka. He looked forward to further strengthening the connectivity and people-to-people ties between both the countries, Colombo Gazette reported.

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Power, Energy & Business Development of Sri Lanka, Ravi Karunanayake, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament, Mujibur Rahuman, MD & CEO, Tata Housing, Sanjay Dutt and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Indian High Commissioner thanked the Government of Sri Lanka for giving the status of Strategic Development Project to this project.

Sandhu pointed out that this was yet another manifestation of the confidence that Indian firms have in the Sri Lankan economy.

He stressed that India and Sri Lanka are going through a phase of rapid urbanization and that there was a need to ensure smart development of cities with due emphasis on "inclusivity and sustainability".