The Union Ministry of External Affairs has appointed three public sector engineering enterprises – Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd (HSCL), National Building Construction Co (NBCC) and Hindustan Prefab Ltd (HPL) – as project management consultants for construction or repair of 50,000 low-cost houses in Sri Lanka.

This is for resettlement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the war-torn Northern and Eastern provinces, and the plantation community in Central Province.

The project is considered significant for thawing of bilateral relations between India and the island nation.

The Ministry, under the first phase of the Government of India-assisted project, has asked HSCL to get 2,000 dwelling unit constructed in the Central Province for plantation workers.

NBCC and HPL have been chosen to look after construction of houses in Northern and Eastern Provinces. HPL has initiated tendering exercise for a pilot project with 1000 units.

The Chairman and MD of HSCL, Mr Malay Chatterjee, confirming the development, told Business Line that a formal agreement with the External Affairs Ministry would be signed shortly to kick-start the Rs 100-crore phase I of the agency-driven housing project in Central Province.

HSCL has already identified and modified standard design for the single-storey units. “Tendering process would begin once agreement is signed,” Mr Chatterjee said.

The proposed single-storied houses on a plinth area of 550 sq.ft each will be built in the hilly terrain of tea plantations in clusters.

The consultation fees would be 10 per cent of the project cost. The project implementation would be done through local contractors, HSCL official said. However, construction materials, such as steel and cement, would be procured from India.

The entire project involves seven districts of the Central Province. The broad timeframe of four years has been decided for implementation of the project in two to three phases.

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