The Cabinet this week decided to relax the government policies on the Trincomalee Harbour to attract investors for multiple heavy industries at the port. 

Ports and Shipping Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to  amend the existing policy of ‘one heavy industry to one harbour’,  with the objective of attracting interested investors to inaugurate heavy industries in the Trincomalee Harbour. 

The Government Information Department cited the ‘one heavy industry to one harbour’ policy as an obstacle ‘for implementing the finalised Trincomalee Harbour development plan, which aims to develop the harbour as the centre port in the region, given its ideal location to fast-growing economies of the Bay of Bengal. 

“At present, it is the policy to implement only one heavy industry in a specific field in one harbour. It has been recognised that it is appropriate to make available opportunities to investors for establishing industries without special restrictions for the sake of the development of the harbour,” it elaborated. 

The Trincomalee Harbour is the second best natural harbour in the world and the available water and land area is estimated 10 times as much as the Port of Colombo. The port was tentatively identified to cater for bulk and break bulk cargo and port-related industrial activities, including heavy industries, tourism and agriculture and so on. 
It was highlighted that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) owns around 2,000 hectares of land around the port, which could be given to develop heavy industries. 

According to recent media reports, a United States-based firm submitted an unsolicited proposal to set up a mega oil refinery at an investment of US $ 3 billion, on the land belonging to the Trincomalee Harbour.