Indian Railways supplied a consignment of 20 state-of-the-art railway passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways. The state-of-the-art coaches have been transported to Sri Lanka by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), as per the statement issued by the High Commission of India in Colombo. These 20 passenger coaches reached Colombo Port on 17 September 2021. It is a part of a $82.6 million contract to supply 160 state-of-the-art passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways, funded under an Indian line of credit (LoC) of $318 million, it said. So far, 60 out of 160 passenger coaches have been transported to Sri Lanka Railways, while 20 more passenger coaches are ready to be shipped from India. These passenger coaches have been custom-made and made as per the Sri Lanka Railways requirements by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Under the Indian LoC of $318 million, the PSU- RITES Limited is also scheduled to supply two air-conditioned diesel multiple units (DMUs) to Sri Lanka. India is ready to ship the first air-conditioned DMU set consisting of 13 coaches and is waiting for the nomination of the ship by Sri Lanka. Some of the other projects under this line include railway line’s upgradation from Maho to Omanthai, a signaling project from Maho to Anuradhapura, double-tracking of a rail line from Polgahawela to Kurunegala, and many more. The High Commission of India in Colombo said that RITES Limited has supplied six DMUs and ten diesel locomotives to Sri Lanka Railways, funded under a separate LoC earlier. India’s overall support to the island nation for development is near $3.5 billion. Railway infrastructure development in Sri Lanka is a sector of specific focus. In this connection, installation of signal and telecommunication systems, up-gradation of the coastal railway line, and reconstruction of railway lines have been finished already. Image SourceAlso read: Indian Railways to operate 102 Vande Bharat trains by March 2024