India and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement for developing a 100 megawatt solar power plant in the island nation’s eastern port district of Trincomalee, as part of the efforts to strengthen bilateral economic partnership, including through cooperation in the renewable energy sector.

The signing ceremony took place on Friday at the Ministry of Finance of Sri Lanka for the plant in the country’s Eastern province. The Joint Venture and Shareholders’ Agreement (JVSHA) for the Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL) — a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited from India and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for developing the 100 megawatt solar power plant at Sampur — has been signed, the Indian mission said in a statement.

“Signing of this JVSHA demonstrates yet again India’s ability to respond to Sri Lanka’s priorities in a comprehensive and mutually beneficial manner,” it said.

Our cooperation with Sri Lanka in this domain will only become stronger with the implementation of the USD 100 million Line of Credit offered by India to Sri Lanka for development of solar power projects.

“Similarly, there is significant interest among the private sector on both sides for cooperation in renewable energy which is likely to increase in the coming years,” the statement added.

A 2013 agreement with NTPC to build a thermal power plant in Sampur was later abandoned.

Sri Lanka is facing its all-time worst foreign exchange crisis after the pandemic hit the nation’s earnings from tourism and remittances. By December, the reserves position had plummeted to just one month’s imports or a little over USD 1 billion.

In recent months, the public has experienced a shortage of many essentials due to the foreign exchange crisis. Import restrictions to save dollars have threatened cooking gas and fuel supplies in addition to the looming power cuts.