"Liberalisation of construction services, including engineering and architectural services, will eventually happen with the globalisation of the economy," he told LBO in an interview.
"But we say the domestic industry is not developed enough yet to compete with Indians."
The industry argued its case in the technical level talks between India and Sri Lanka on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and managed to get the liberalisation of construction industry services deferred.
The CEPA is meant to go beyond an existing free trade agreement on goods and take liberalization into services.
Thalgodapitiya says the local industry is amenable to selective liberalisation.
"In areas we can't find Sri Lanka