First diesel shipment procured from Indian credit line arrives in Colombo
March 21, 2022 11:02 am
The first shipment of 35,000 metric tonnes of diesel under the USD 500 million credit line from India has arrived in Colombo, according to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
The CPC said that unloading of the diesel shipment had commenced this morning (21).
Sri Lanka had signed the $500 million credit line with India to import fuel, amid a foreign exchange crisis that has hampered purchases of diesel for power plants.
Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) entered into the pact on February 2, 2022 with Sri Lanka to provide the $500 million line of credit for purchasing petroleum products.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week issued a notification to initiate the million line of credit provided by India, which would enable Sri Lanka to buy petroleum products.
In a notification, RBI said that out of the total credit by Exim Bank, goods, works and services of value of at least 75 per cent should be supplied by the seller from India.
The remaining 25 per cent of goods and services may be procured by seller (Sri Lanka) from outside India.
The agreement under the line of credit came into effect from February 18, 2022.
