India has formally closed the third phase of its plantation-area housing project in Sri Lanka, with visiting Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan handing over the final 145 houses in an online ceremony on Sunday.
Phase three of the Indian-assisted scheme, covering 4,000 houses across plantation settlements in the Uva, Central and Southern provinces, was carried out to address housing needs among Sri Lanka’s Indian-origin Tamil community. Sunday’s handover closes out that phase.
The broader project, underwritten by the Government of India, aims to deliver 60,000 houses across the island’s plantation regions. The first two phases already completed 46,000 units.
Funding raised to absorb crisis
Officials said the per-house grant was increased to 2.8 million rupees after the COVID-19 pandemic and Sri Lanka’s subsequent economic crisis pushed construction costs well beyond the original budget. The top-up from New Delhi enabled the third phase to finish without scaling back the number of homes.
Phase four under way
The fourth phase, committed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is already under construction and will add a further 10,000 houses. That rollout was flagged in pre-visit briefings by Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha, who said the Vice President’s trip was designed to reinforce India’s engagement with the up-country Tamil community it has long supported.
Visit context
Sunday’s handover is one of the most tangible deliverables of Radhakrishnan’s two-day visit, which has also included bilateral meetings with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Colombo, alongside community engagement in Nuwara Eliya.
The plantation housing project, alongside a USD 450 million reconstruction package tied to Cyclone Ditwah-affected areas, forms the core economic pillar of India’s “Neighbourhood First” outreach to Sri Lanka.
