Investors eye Mannar, Matugama industrial trade zones

Over Rs 1 b investment proposals before opening:

Anjana Samarasinghe

The ongoing Industrial Estates in Mannar and Matugama were able to attract over Rs 1 billion in investment proposals before the commencement of these estates. An official of the Industry and Commerce Ministry’s Regional Industrial Development Division said there are five investment proposals for the Matugama Industrial Estate and these investment proposals are in chemical manufacturing, automobile parts manufacturing and roofing products manufacturing.

“We are still evaluating these project proposals and has already granted permission for one project proposal. We estimate the total investment value of all these projects will be around Rs 1 billion. Nearly 90 percent of the construction work of the Matugama Industrial Estate has been completed. It is a 50 acre industrial estate,” he said.

Another official said there were 10 project proposals for the Mannar Industrial Estate and the total investment value of these projects is estimated at Rs 100 million. “We are in the process of evaluating these project proposals,” she said.

She said these project proposals are in the fields of plastics, electronic items, dairy and sea foods processing. Nearly 60 percent of the construction work has been completed in this estate and only 25 acres of this estate will be developed under the first phase. The Industry and Commerce Ministry Regional Industrial Development Division Director said more investors are willing to locate their projects outside Colombo now.

“We have noticed more investors going to Kurunegala, Kalutara and Puttalam for their projects,” he said.

“When investors locate their projects outside Colombo they can easily find labour and source raw materials for their manufacturing process. When investors go for private lands for their projects they have to invest an additional amount of money for infrastructure development and they also have certain environmental restrictions. But they do not have to face these challenges when they locate the project in industrial estates,” he said.

There are total of 25 industrial estates in the country and plots are still available in the industrial estates such as Nalanda Ellawala, Embilipitiya, Buttala, Karandeniya, Bata-Atha and Nawagampura.