Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 08COLOMBO662, SRI LANKA: INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND FIRMS INVEST IN SRI LANKA

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08COLOMBO662.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08COLOMBO662 2008-07-10 10:22 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Colombo
VZCZCXRO3655
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0662/01 1921022
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101022Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8393
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1238
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1002
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 7991
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 6163
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2163
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2368
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 8597
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 6042
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0371
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000662 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS AND SCA/RA 
STATE PASS USTR 
COMMERCE FOR JONATHAN STONE 
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV PREL CE IN CH
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND FIRMS INVEST IN SRI LANKA 
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS 
 
REF: 07 COLOMBO 1093 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  The Indian government and Indian parastatal and 
private firms are lending to or investing in a number of major 
infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka.  Projects that have been in 
the discussion stage for some time are gaining momentum as the two 
sides prepare deliverables for the upcoming South Asian Association 
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Sri Lanka.  While China's 
infrastructure loans exceed India's investments, Sri Lanka-India 
trade ties make up for India's less aggressive aid presence.  End 
summary. 
 
COAL POWER PLANT IN TRINCOMALEE 
------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The highest profile Indian investment being discussed is 
for a 500 megawatt coal fired power plant in the strategic Eastern 
Province town of Trincomalee.  The $500 million project would be a 
joint venture between India's parastatal National Thermal Power 
Corporation (NTPC) and the fully state-owned Ceylon Electricity 
Board (CEB).  The two would form a joint venture company for 
implementation of this project. Investment would be 70% debt and 30% 
equity equally shared by NTPC and CEB.  It would be one of the 
largest external investments in Sri Lanka's infrastructure and would 
add about 20% to the country's power generation capacity. 
Completion is targeted for 2012. 
 
3. (SBU) The project is controversial because the Government of Sri 
Lanka wants the plant to be built in Sampur, the strategic peninsula 
at the southern mouth of Trincomalee harbor, which the government 
retook when it pushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 
out of the East.  Since then, the government has declared Sampur a 
High Security Zone, limiting access to the area.  Tamil residents 
displaced from Sampur have been restricted from returning to their 
homes within the zone and fear the project will be built on their 
former land. 
 
4. (SBU) After earlier rejecting the Sampur site (reftel), India in 
May agreed to it.  Indian Embassy Economic Counselor told Econoff 
that India had indeed opposed the Sampur site, and had considered 
other sites Sri Lanka offered closer to Trincomalee town.  But, he 
said, those sites had technical complications that led the NTPC to 
conclude that Sampur was its best option.  The GSL, he said, had 
reassured India that it did not intend to exclude Tamil residents 
from the area, and that indeed it hoped they could be trained to 
work in the construction of the project. 
 
COLOMBO-MATARA RAILWAY LINE OF CREDIT 
----------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) Three years after India offered Sri Lanka a $100 million line 
of credit to repair railways damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean 
Tsunami, the project is now proceeding.  Sri Lanka intends to use 
the funds to buy commuter rail carriages from India, to improve the 
rail tracks and signal system between Colombo and Matara on the 
southern coast, and to renovate the Galle railway station.  The 
Export-Import Bank of India is providing the line of credit. 
 
PRIVATE SECTOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PARKS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6. (U) In June 2008, the Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI) issued 
a Letter of Intent to two Kolkata-based companies, Infotech Parks 
Ltd and PS Group Realty, to build a 1.6 million square feet 
information technology (IT) park in Malabe, just outside Colombo. 
The consortium was selected after a rigorous bidding process.  The 
two companies will develop the park and will be responsible for 
marketing it to Sri Lankan and international IT companies. 
 
7. (U) In February 2008, the BOI signed a memorandum of 
understanding with Mahindra and Mahindra Group of India to set up an 
IT park on a 53 acre site in Katunayake, near Colombo's 
international airport.  The plan envisions about three million 
square feet of office space.  Mahindra would invest $100 million in 
 
COLOMBO 00000662  002 OF 002 
 
 
building and managing the park and would market it to interested IT 
and business process outsourcing companies.  Planners envision the 
project creating 25,000 IT jobs. 
 
8. (SBU) Mahindra Group has also had initial talks with Sri Lankan 
government investment officials about building and managing a 3,000 
acre Export Processing Zone in Trincomalee.  The BOI is reportedly 
currently making arrangements to acquire the required land, though 
this project seems to be far from implementation. 
 
UNDERWATER ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION CABLE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) India and Sri Lanka intend to study the feasibility of an 
underwater power transmission line between the two countries.  The 
transmission line would primarily enable Indian power producers to 
sell electricity to the Sri Lankan market.  Sri Lanka, with a 
shortfall in production and high power costs, needs the power and 
would pay less for it than it would domestically.  Indian power 
producers would receive higher than local rates for their excess 
power.  Over the long run, after Sri Lanka increases capacity to 
meet domestic demand, power could flow in both directions. 
Moreover, analysts say the two markets have different peak periods, 
making it possible for Sri Lanka, despite its more expensive power, 
to export during peak demand periods in India.  The undersea linkage 
would extend from Anuradhapura to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka and then 
to Rameshwaram and on to Madurai in India. 
 
10. (SBU) Experts with USAID's South Asia Regional Initiative for 
Energy (SARI/Energy) consider this project worthwhile.  SARI/Energy 
in 2006 commissioned the Powergrid Corporation of India to conduct a 
"pre-feasibility" desktop study of this proposal, which found that 
it appeared fundamentally viable.  India has told SARI/Energy staff 
that it would like the $500 million project to be a government to 
government initiative; if the feasibility study concludes the 
project is viable, the two governments could elect to seek 
multilateral development bank funding for the project. 
 
COMMENT: INDIA'S INVESTMENT LAGS CHINA'S AID, 
BUT TRADE FAR EXCEEDS THAT WITH CHINA 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
11. (SBU) The Indian projects in the works add a significant 
investment dimension to an economic relationship that had previously 
been limited mostly to trade.  In all, the Indian government-driven 
projects are slated to be worth around $400-600 million, and the 
private projects another $200-300 million.  This is well below the 
$1.25 billion China is providing, mostly in low-interest loans, to 
develop a 300MW coal power plant, a bulk goods port and fuel 
bunkering facility, an airport expressway, a performing arts 
theatre, and new railway carriages.  On the other hand, Sri Lanka's 
trade volume with India still far exceeds that with China.  Sri 
Lanka-India bilateral trade totaled $3.1 billion in 2007, whereas 
Sri Lanka-China trade that year was about $960 million.  Most 
importantly for Sri Lanka, its exports to India in 2007 were $515 
million versus $34 million to China.  This trend is likely to be 
strengthened by a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that 
Sri Lanka and India intend to sign at the upcoming SAARC summit, 
which would add to the two countries' existing Free Trade Agreement. 
 
BLAKE