Iran’s President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe jointly inaugurated a hydroelectric project in Sri Lanka, adding significant capacity to the national grid with an estimated generation of up to 290 Giga Watt hours of energy. This $514 million irrigation and hydropower initiative, designed and constructed by Iran’s Farab engineering group, holds dual-purpose functionality, with plans to irrigate 6,000 hectares of agricultural land and provide essential drinking and industrial water resources.
Originally funded with a $50 million contribution from Iran, the project faced financial challenges due to sanctions in 2013, leading Sri Lanka to take on the financing burden to ensure its completion. President Wickremesinghe acknowledged the collaborative effort initiated by past leaders of both nations, highlighting the resilience needed to overcome the project’s numerous challenges. He praised Iran’s advanced technological prowess, particularly in engineering, developed through domestic efforts and expertise.
President Raisi echoed sentiments of cooperation and friendship, emphasizing the project’s symbolic significance as a testament to the strong ties between Iran and Sri Lanka. He expressed Iran’s readiness to share technological knowledge accumulated over 45 years for mutual development, highlighting the project as a tangible demonstration of bilateral collaboration and shared expertise between the two nations.
