Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Sri Lanka expects FDI to jump to £1.05bn with India taking lead

Sri Lanka is also drawing up plans to identify new islands for investors to help resuscitate its £3.2bn tourism industry

Sri Lanka expects FDI to jump to £1.05bn with India taking lead

Sri Lanka is expecting foreign direct investment inflows to rise by a fifth to $1.3 billion (£1.05bn) this year, a government official said on Wednesday (24), with India likely to play a lead role despite the Sri Lankan economy facing its worst crisis in decades.

Although it was pushed to the brink last year by power cuts, chronic shortages of fuel and food and soaring inflation, Sri Lanka managed to raise its FDI by 38 per cent to $1.08bn (£870 million), data from the Board of Investment (BoI) showed.


Part of the bump came from India, which wants to keep China's expansion in its neighbour in check. India's Adani group signed up for two wind power plants worth $442m (£358m) last year.

In the first quarter, Sri Lanka has already received proposals worth $600m (£484m), said BoI Director General Renuka Weerakone, with 22 new projects and six expansions.

"The acid test is really in what comes in, that is what really helps the economy," she said.

Sri Lanka is banking on information technology, solar and wind, bunkering and mineral processing to attract investments.

India's MCS Group has signed a $20m (£16.2m) deal for mineral processing, the largest Sri Lanka has received so far in 2023, Weerakone said.

Other countries are also keen.

"Japan is very interested in minerals, so is China," she said. "The raw material we have is something we can really pitch to get new investments."

Sri Lanka has untapped deposits of graphite, phosphate and other minerals to attract investors but policy frameworks are yet to be updated, creating a bottleneck for FDI, Weerakone added.

Over the last decade, China has invested about $3bn (£2.4bn) in Sri Lanka, accounting for nearly a quarter of its FDI, while India made up about $1.3bn (£1.05bn). In the last two years, India took the lead, followed by the UK in 2022 and Netherlands in 2021.

(Reuters)

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less