(Image source from: Economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Sri Lanka Inks A Deal To Oil Tanks To Indian Oil:- On Thursday, Sri Lanka signed a deal with the Indian Oil Corporation to lease 75 oil tanks after Sri Lanka is close to secure 500 million USD fuel credit from India. The deal was signed ahead of Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to Sri Lanka which is scheduled to take place this weekend. Sri Lanka is badly hit and was in a deep financial crisis for decades. Sri Lanka agreed to lease 99 tanks to India in the year 2003. Lanka IOC will have 14 tanks for a 50-year lease and the joint ventures will lease the remaining 24 tanks. The joint venture includes Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the Trinco Petroleum Terminal (TPT).

This will nullify the lease agreements that are done by India and Sri Lanka in 2003. The government of Sri Lanka has been trying hard to increase the fuel storage capacity. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Srilankan visit in 2019 said that the project will help Sri Lanka to emerge as a petroleum hub in the region. The governments of both the countries have been attempting the deal since 1987 to divide the development and ownership. Sri Lanka is on the shipping route between the Asian Consumers and the Gulf Oil exporters.