SL to meet local saline needs

Nadira Gunatilleke

Sri Lanka will produce saline required for the entire country soon. Initial steps have already been taken to produce saline locally under the instructions of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman the Health Ministry has called for tenders from private companies to set up a factory in Sri Lanka to produce saline required for the country. Five Indian companies have already expressed interest in this regard.

The ministry will offer the tender to the most suitable company soon.

Over 50 per cent of the work in this programme has already been completed and local saline production will commence before the end of this year.

The government spends over Rs. 500 million annually to import saline from foreign companies, he said.

Once the local saline production commences, Sri Lanka will be able to save a huge amount of foreign exchange on saline imports.

On the other hand the ministry will be able to supply adequate saline on time because there will be no need to wait until stocks arrive from abroad, he added.