A consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday, the fourth such shipment from New Delhi to help the island nation cope with an unprecedented economic and energy crisis brought on by a lack of foreign exchange.
On Thursday, power outages lasted more than 13 hours, the longest since a 72-hour blackout in 1996 due to a strike by state power entity employees. Officials from the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said that the Indian diesel supplies would help to alleviate the current power outages.
The power outages, which began on Saturday, will last for more than 8.5 hours.
“#India has delivered more fuel supplies to #SriLanka! The High Commissioner of India handed over a consignment of 40,000 MT of diesel to Hon’ble Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge in #Colombo today, with the help of an Indian line of credit worth $500 million,” Tweeted the Indian High Commission in New York.
More fuel supplies delivered by #India to #SriLanka! A consignment of 40,000 MT of diesel under #Indian assistance through Line of Credit of $500 mn was handed over by High Commissioner to Hon'ble Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge in #Colombo today. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/j8S2IsOw29
— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) April 2, 2022
Following a previous USD 500 billion line of credit (LoC) in February to help Sri Lanka purchase petroleum products, India recently announced that it will extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to the country as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis.
“The fourth consignment under the LoC has arrived. In the last 50 days, #IndianWells has delivered about 200,000T of fuel to the people of #SriLanka,” according to the High Commission.
After receiving supplies from LIOC, the Lankan subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation, the CEB announced the resumption of power berating operations at Kerawalapitiya Thermal Power Plant (IOC). The LIOC will supply the thermal plant with 6,000 MT of diesel.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Long lines for fuel and cooking gas, a scarcity of essentials, and long power outages have sparked unrest in the island nation.