Sri Lanka has used over $10 million from India’s assistance of $1 billion to print nearly half of the textbooks for its four million young students, the Indian High Commission here said on March 12.
A concessional credit facility of $1 billion was extended to the Government of Sri Lanka by the Government of India in March 2022 for supply of essential items, including food, fuel, medicines, and industrial raw materials. Out of this facility, over $10 million has been used by State Printing Corporation (SPC) and private importers to procure printing paper and material from India. The fund is being used to print 45 percent of textbooks required by 4 million young students of Sri Lanka for the academic year 2023, it said in a statement.
India and Sri Lanka enjoy a multi-faceted and multi-sectoral partnership. Under India’s Neighbourhood First policy, the country assisted the people of Sri Lanka in various ways, such as through concessional credit facilities and lines of credit. To date, lines of credit worth over $4 billion have been extended to Sri Lanka in diverse areas, including supply of essential items, petroleum, fertilisers, development of railways, infrastructure, defence sector and renewable energy.
