BIA Terminal II project to be awarded by year-end

The contract for the Bandaranaike International Airport Terminal II project is expected to be awarded to the chosen contractor by November or December this year, Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku stated.

Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku revealed that the timeline provided by the High-Level Procurement Committee evaluating the two received bids indicated the project would likely be awarded by year end.

The contractor would need a reasonable amount of time to mobilise before commencing work once the contract is awarded, Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku pointed out.

The project might be awarded by November or December, while mobilisation would require around another month, Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku stated.

Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku noted an inability to comment on the exact stage of the bid evaluation process, as those details were not shared despite being the Deputy Minister.

The High-Level Procurement Committee evaluating the bids does not divulge such details to external parties, Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku added.

Both bids came from Japanese contractors with no local contractor involvement, Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku said, explaining that conditions under the Japan International Cooperation Agency loan agreement mandatorily required a Japanese contractor.

The USD 564 million contract for the construction of the multi-level terminal was initially awarded to Taisei Corporation in 2020, but the company terminated its contract after construction halted in 2022 due to the funding freeze imposed by JICA following Sri Lanka’s default.

Construction of the multi-level terminal forms part of Package A of the BIA expansion project, initially estimated to cost Rs. 133 billion, largely funded by a Rs. 131.5 billion (¥ 74.4 billion) Special Terms for Economic Partnership concessionary Official Development Assistance loan from JICA at a 0.1% annual interest rate, with Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. funding the remaining Rs. 21.5 billion.

AASL entered into two agreements with JICA regarding Package A, signing the first agreement in March 2012 for ¥ 29 billion and the second in March 2016 for ¥ 45.4 billion.