JEDB goes into bottled water

Shirajiv Sirimane

For the first time in Sri Lanka a state enterprise, the Janatha Estate Development Board, (JEDB) has come out to product bottled water to the local market.

JEDB Chairman Dhanasiri de Silva Daluwatta told Daily News Business that the plant has been already installed in Hope Estate Hewaheta and their products would be available from next month. The JEDB has already received the Health Ministry clearance and will obtain the Quality Foundation certification soon.

“The estate is rich with natural water resources and this was the main reason why I decided to launch this project,” he said. He said that they invested around Rs. 1.2 million for this project and that they are anticipating a net revenue of nearly Rs. one million each month. “We have already contacted several government institutions including the parliament which have consented to buy our products,” he said. “We have installed new machinery and have also refurbished a building for this project,” he said. He also said that this is the first time they diversified and want to prove a point that government institutions too can be innovative and profitable.