India's ITC Ltd to Build US$ 300 Mil Hotel in Colombo

COLOMBO (NNN-Bernama): ITC Ltd of India will invest US$ 300 million to build a luxury hotel in Colombo, hoping that India's presence in Sri lanka will be significant contribution toward promoting foreign direct investment (FDI), and the tourism industry.

According to Press Trust of India (PTI), the hotel will built on five acres of land on a 99-year lease, in close proximity to military headquarters in Colombo's famous Galle Face landmark beachfront.

ITC Ltd is one of India's foremost private sector companies and hotel investment group, with a market capitalisation of over US$33 billion and a turnover of US$ 7 billion.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka is to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with ITC Ltd, enabling the firm to execute the project under concessionary tax terms with permitted exemptions on investments.

This block of land was earlier allocated to China Aviation Technology Import Export Corporation (CATIC) for US$73.5 million for a similar project.

The Chinese firm later withdrew and the Sri Lankan government is in the process of reimbursing US$54.4 million has been paid by CATIC for the lease of land. -NNN-BERNAMA