India grants $450 million loan to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka
India has pledged $450 million in financial assistance to Sri Lanka to support recovery efforts following the devastating cyclone Ditwah, which struck the island nation in November, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar announced on Tuesday.
The cyclone affected an estimated 2.3 million people—more than 10% of Sri Lanka’s population—triggering widespread flooding and landslides that caused extensive damage across the country. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described the storm as the most severe natural disaster in the country’s history.
During a two-day visit to Colombo, Jaishankar said he had delivered a letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirming New Delhi’s commitment to a $450 million reconstruction package. Of this amount, $350 million will be provided through credit lines, while the remaining $100 million will be granted as direct aid.
India has already supplied 1,100 tonnes of relief materials to Sri Lanka, including medicines and essential equipment, in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Jaishankar emphasized that restoring transport links was an urgent priority, noting that India helped by providing modular bridge systems to reconnect affected areas.
The Indian foreign minister also indicated that New Delhi was exploring additional measures to ease Sri Lanka’s economic losses, including initiatives to encourage Indian tourism to the island.
Separately, Sri Lanka secured a $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank last week to support water management projects. The World Bank is currently assessing the scale of the damage, with preliminary estimates suggesting that reconstruction costs could reach up to $7 billion.
The cyclone struck the country of 22 million people just three years after Sri Lanka endured its worst economic and financial crisis on record, compounding the challenges facing the island’s recovery.
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