Sun, 01 August 2010  06:31:58
Railway Estate
25 Jan, 2007 17:19:26
Sri Lanka plans US $ 1.2 billion development of railway land
January 25, 2007 (LBO) - Sri Lanka plans to raise over 1.2 billion dollars in foreign investments to develop real estate along a railway on the island's western coastal belt, an official said Thursday.
The Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) said they have earmarked 12 railway stations running between Slave Island and Panadura, for commercial development.

"We are looking at attracting between 100 million to 200 million dollars from investors to develop each railway station," SEMA Chief Operating Officer Chris Dharmakirti told reporters.

Land rich stations:

Colpetty (250 perches) Bambalapitiya (400 perches) Wellawatte (800 perches) Dehiwela (600 perches) Mount Lavinia (300 perches) Lunawa (200 perches) Moratuwa (200 perches) Panadura (890 perches) Melford Place (200 perches) Beira Lake (234 perches) Galle Face (125 perches) Bridge Station (124 perches)

He said the government plans to conduct roadshows in India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai next month seeking investor interest, with the government already receiving unsolicited bids from Indian and Malaysian investors.

Applications will close in June with developers having three years to complete the work.

SEMA estimates each railway station to own land between one to three acres that could be used to develop condominiums, offices and car parks.

Sri Lanka Railways hopes to use the cash to modernise its crumbling network which was built by the British colonial rulers before they left in 1948.

The railways operate at a huge loss with a revenue of three billion rupees each year against a state subsidy of seven billion rupees annually, he said.
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