Srilankan business magnate Nandana Lokuwitharana, who bought the Ceylon Steel Corporation successfully negotiated a deal with the Srilanka government through the Ministry of Development Strategies to obtain 100 acres of land out of 150 acres available there to establish Rigid Tyre Corporation (Pvt) .Foundation stone was laid on 5th January . The company will use technology from Marangoni of Italy under a partnership agreement signed in September 2016.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has also sanctioned a massive discount on the lease premium owed to the Wagawatta property and is now pushing through other concessions . The BOI charges a premium of US$40,000 (Rs6 million) per acre for a 50 year lease of WIZ land as per Cabinet paper. Accordingly Lokuwitharana should therefore make a down payment of US$ 4 million (Rs 600 million) for his allotted 100 acres. But the CCEM has approved an unprecedented discount of 99.98 percent on each acre of land to Lokuwitharana. Apart from concession on land, other incentives too were granted at the request of the investor, said Cabinet sources.
Normally BOI advertises available lands for investments. In respect of Seethawake Industrial Zone, lease premium was gazetted at US$60,00 an acre and the annual rent is US$ 4,325 per acre. The Agency attracted an offer of US$110,000 as premium and US$ 5,200 an annual rent for an acre, which has been now accepted. While the powers of the BOI to grant tax concession were suspended in April 2016, the Development Strategies Ministry has arranged the waivers on the grounds that the application to manufacture tyres was lodged during the previous month.
