High Commission of India
Colombo

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Launch of Emergency Ambulance Service in Western and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka

1. During his visit to Sri Lanka in March 2015, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi had received a request for assistance for setting of an emergency ambulance service in Sri Lanka. After the visit, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Hon’ble Ranil Wickremesinghe, wrote to Hon’ble Prime Minister of India for support for setting up of an emergency ambulance service and its operations for the first year. Prime Minister Modi, taking personal interest in the matter, assured full support. The commitment of Government of India was formalized through a Letter of Exchange ceremony that took place in September 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India. The project would cover the Western and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

2. The project was launched at a widely attended event on July 28, 2016 at the iconic Galle Face Green in Colombo. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered a video message on the occasion in the presence of, among others, Prime Minister, Hon’ble Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka, Hon’ble Rajitha Senarathne, High Commissioner of India, H.E. Y.K. Sinha and Deputy Foreign Minister, Hon’ble Harsha de Silva.

3. The project is being implemented through grant assistance of Government of India of around US$ 7.55 million. Project elements include an emergency response centre, deployment of 88 ambulances in the Southern and Western Provinces and recruitment and training of nearly 600 Sri Lankan personnel to implement the project. Only 4-6 staff members are to be deployed from India to provide management and technical expertise guidance. Government of Sri Lanka has selected M/s GVK EMRI as the implementing agency. A ‘not for profit company’, called GVK EMRI Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., has been created for rolling out the services in the Western and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka. All assets, including ambulances, will belong to Ministry Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka. The emergency ambulance services would be provided free of cost to the beneficiary.

4. This project is another milestone in the wide raging development partnership between India and Sri Lanka. India’s development portfolio in Sri Lanka is nearly US$ 2.6 billion, out of which US$ 436 million is pure grants.

5. The text of the message of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on the occasion of the launch of the emergency ambulance service. ( English, Sinhala, Tamil)