Iranian aid for rural electrification program in Sri Lanka

The government of Iran has granted a US$ 105 million loan to Sri Lanka for a rural electrification project.

The Power and Energy Ministry is to launch the project to supply electricity to about 1,000 villages in the rural areas of the country, the government announced.



The loan was granted on the request of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The project is destined to start in May.

The project will cover the areas in Eastern, Central, South, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and North Central Provinces will be covered by the project.

The government says 87 percent of the country is using the electricity currently and the Ministry expects the figure to rise to 92 percent after implementation of the project.