PM Modi to launch India-assisted emergency ambulance service in Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the country-wide Emergency Ambulance service for Sri Lanka through video conferencing from New Delhi today. The service was introduced in two provinces of Sri Lanka with grant assistance from India and will be expanded to the remaining seven provinces today. The inaugural function will be held in Jaffna of the northern province where Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be present among other dignitaries. 

India has given a grant of 22.8 million US dollars - 7.6 million in the first phase - and 15.2 million for the country-wide expansion.Under the first phase, 88



ambulances were purchased for the two provinces, while another 209 ambulances are being provided to cover all districts in the country.

This is the largest Indian grant project in Sri Lanka after Indian housing project. Apart from providing ambulances, the grant covers training of manpower in India and meeting operational costs for one year. The project is another milestone in the wide raging development partnership between India and Sri Lanka.

India's development portfolio in Sri Lanka is nearly 2.9 billion US dollars, out of which 545 million dollars is pure grants.