Colombo, September 8 (DDNews): An agreement to supply160 railway passenger coaches custom-made in India, was signed between RITES Limited of India and Sri Lankan government in Colombo on September 7.

The US 82.64 million contract is part of a line of credit agreement for procurement of railway rolling stock and upgrading of rail tracks worth US$ 318 million which was signed between EXIM Bank of India and Government of Sri Lanka in June 2017.

Procurement of rolling stock from India which are underway also include 6 DMUs, 10 locomotives, 20 container carrier wagons and 30 fuel tank wagons.

RITES Ltd. will be supplying the DMUs and locomotives, whereas Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd. will be supplying the wagons.

India has already completed projects close to US$ 1 billion under concessional financing in the railway sector in Sri Lanka including railway lines to Jaffna and Thalaimannar.

This project is in continuation of India’s efforts to partner with Sri Lanka in people-oriented connectivity projects in Sri Lanka.