High Commissioner of India, H.E Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development and Housing Mr. W.S. Sathyananda signed and exchanged diplomatic letters on 02 July 2024 to formalize modalities related to the Low Cost Transit Housing Construction Project at Madhu Shrine, Mannar, consequent to the decision of Government of India (GOI) to provide an additional grant of around SLR 100 million for the project. GOI’s total commitment to the project now stands at over SLR 400 million.
Responding to the challenges that arose in the economic landscape of Sri Lanka, GOI had decided to infuse additional funds into nine ongoing grant projects in order to expeditiously complete them, while also minimizing the impact of the significant rise in cost of construction materials on the original scope of the projects. The Low Cost Transit Housing Construction Project at Madhu Shrine, Mannar, is among the said nine projects.
A total of 96 transit houses shall now be constructed with the GOI grant at Madhu Shrine that could be used by pilgrims visiting the shrine. The project is currently underway and the proposed transit houses are at various stages of construction.