Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved the award of contracts worth approximately Rs. 15 billion for the first phase of the Ruwanpura Expressway, clearing the way for construction procurement to begin this year.
Cabinet spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the decision authorises the Road Development Authority (RDA) to run the tender process and appoint a contractor for the road section running from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya.
“The Road Development Authority has planned to complete the procurement process for the construction of the Phase 1 road section of the Ruwanpura Expressway Project from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya, including the System Interchange to be constructed at Kahathuduwa, and award the relevant contracts within the year 2026,” Jayatissa said.
The scope of the phase includes a system interchange at Kahathuduwa that will tie the new road into the existing Southern Expressway, providing the connection point between the two networks.
The proposal was submitted by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, Daily Mirror reported. The work will be financed entirely from domestic sources, drawn against budgetary provisions already approved for 2026 rather than foreign borrowing — consistent with the government’s stated approach of funding expressway construction locally and awarding the work primarily to domestic contractors.
The Ruwanpura Expressway is intended to link the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces to the island’s expanding expressway network, shortening travel times between Colombo and the Ratnapura region.
The approval marks a concrete procurement step for a project that has advanced in stops and starts. In May, RDA Director General Anuradha Hettiarachchi said Ruwanpura construction would restart alongside Central Expressway work, with the Potuhera–Rambukkana stretch expected to open to the public by around March 2027.
The Cabinet decision grants approval to initiate procurement; a contractor has not yet been selected.
