India is to finalise a US$100 million credit line to help Sri Lanka develop a southern railway link, PTI reported.
Colombo is in the process of negotiating the terms of the credit line, which forms part of India's development assistance to Sri Lanka, Additional Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, Dinesh Kumar Jain said.
"Over the past four years, we have given around USD281 million worth of credit which have been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses," Jain told a meeting of Sri Lanka's international aid donors.
"We are ready to help Sri Lanka develop ICT (Information Communication Technology), power and explore off-shore oil," he said.
Sri Lanka recently gave India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) permission to explore for oil off Sri Lanka's north western Mannar basin.
"Eight exploration blocks have been identified, of which one was given to the Indian government on nomination basis and the other to China," Lanka's Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said on the sidelines of the aid parleys.
The block in the Gulf of Mannar lies between the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka's west coast. It is also the closest block to India.
"The balance will be given through bidding process in three months time," Fowzie said.
Bilateral trade picked up after both sides entered a free trade pact in 1998.
Colombo is in the process of negotiating the terms of the credit line, which forms part of India's development assistance to Sri Lanka, Additional Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, Dinesh Kumar Jain said.
"Over the past four years, we have given around USD281 million worth of credit which have been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses," Jain told a meeting of Sri Lanka's international aid donors.
"We are ready to help Sri Lanka develop ICT (Information Communication Technology), power and explore off-shore oil," he said.
Sri Lanka recently gave India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) permission to explore for oil off Sri Lanka's north western Mannar basin.
"Eight exploration blocks have been identified, of which one was given to the Indian government on nomination basis and the other to China," Lanka's Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said on the sidelines of the aid parleys.
The block in the Gulf of Mannar lies between the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka's west coast. It is also the closest block to India.
"The balance will be given through bidding process in three months time," Fowzie said.
Bilateral trade picked up after both sides entered a free trade pact in 1998.
