ECT given to India's Adani to win loan request : Tilvin

COLOMBO (News1st): The government is offering India's Adani Group a stake in the Colombo Port's East Container Terminal to win a loan request, an opposition party member said Thursday. "The government has sought a USD 1 billion loan from India," Tilvin Silva, the propaganda secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna noted. "But India is insisting on sorting out matters on the East Container Terminal first". Silva observed that India is seeking a portion of the terminal to leverage its trade tussle with regional rivals China. "Since the Hambantota Port has been leased off to China, India too is seeking a port-related entity," the propaganda secretary stressed. He added that the government has succumbed to India's pressure. Lal Kantha, the National Trade Union Centre president, pointed out that the Adani Group will receive a 49 percent stake in the East Container terminal although the government has said it would not be sold or leased. "The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will lose 100 percent control over the terminal," he added.