Aug. 29, 2011 - rttnews.com

(RTTNews) - Sri Lanka is planning to set up a power grid connection between the island nation and India which is facing growing requirement for electricity, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam Sunday said in Bengaluru, reports said.

He said the plan was at a conceptual stage and a feasibility study was underway to set up an undersea power transmission line between India and Sri Lanka (Anurhadhapura), adding that the idea was to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

"In the current context of India''s power requirement, it may be very right for Sri Lanka to sell power to India and vice-versa. We have lot of excess capacity in terms of wind power," he said.

On the situation in Jaffna in the aftermath of the war which led to the decimation of LTTE, Kariyawasam said Sri Lanka was in the process of rebuilding, reconstruction and reconciliation. Of the 2.90 lakh Tamilians displaced, only 5,000 remain to be resettled. He also said of the 11,000 LTTE cadre, 7,000 have been rehabilitated and others remained to be resettled.

Kariyawasam said Sri Lankan government is planning to commence ferry services between Taliamanar in Sri Lanka and Dhanushkodi near Rameswaram in India. "...Dhanushkodi is a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town, he added.

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