India to send 40,000 tonnes of diesel to crisis-hit Sri Lanka

PHOTO

Responding to a request from Sri Lanka, India has agreed to send 40,000 tonnes of diesel to the island-nation, which is facing a severe shortage of the fuel, according to a media report.

Citing a government official, the report said officials are coordinating to resolve issues including shipping facilities.

Earlier, an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) executive had told the media that the company would supply fuel under a $500 million line of credit extended by the Indian government to Sri Lanka for fuel purchase. IOC is expected to supply the fuel over the next few months.

The severe fuel shortage in Sri Lanka has seen the government deploy the army to oversee its distribution.

An army spokesperson told the Indian media that two to four soldiers will be posted at every petrol shed of state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which has a thousand fuel stations. Their task is to ensure smooth distribution of fuel and they will not be armed.

Sumith Wijesinghe, chairman, CPC, said that the daily demand before the shortages was 5,500 metric tons of diesel and 3,300 MT of petrol. “Now due to excess buying, we have been issuing 7,000-8,000 MT of diesel and 4,200-4,500 MT of petrol from our storage in the past few days.”