In recent developments, India has emerged as a key player in Sri Lanka’s renewable energy arena, signalling a significant shift in bilateral dynamics. Notably, the India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership Vision document, inked during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to New Delhi last July, has paved the way for Indian firms to leverage Sri Lanka’s renewable energy potential.
The latest milestone in this partnership is exemplified by the contract signed between the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Government of Sri Lanka, and Bengaluru-based U Solar Clean Energy Solutions. This agreement, aimed at implementing Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems across Delft (Neduntheevu), Nainativu, and Analaitivu islands in the Palk Bay, underscores India’s commitment to bolstering Sri Lanka’s energy infrastructure. According to a statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, the project, which is aimed at addressing energy needs of the people of the three islands, is being executed through grant assistance from Government of India (GoI). The hybrid project combines various forms of energy including both solar and wind, towards optimising capacities.
“GoI’s assistance to the project for the people of the three islands, which are not connected to the national grid, underscores the significance attached by GoI to bilateral energy partnership as well as the human-centric nature of development partnership,” the High Commission statement read. According to Anand Kumar, Associate Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, India is helping Sri Lanka which is facing a dire economic crisis. “In the process, it is also trying to get back its geopolitical influence in Sri Lanka,” Kumar told ETV Bharat. He explained that earlier Sri Lanka said that it was going to China as India and the US were not taking interest in developing renewable energy projects. “However, their relationship with China intensified to such a level that it started raising concerns,” he said and cited the Hambantota port which Sri Lanka had to lease out to China as an example.
