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Cost of Airport Expressway: Rs. 1.8 b per km
View(s):The 26-kilometre-long Colombo-Katunayake Expressway has cost the country US$ 14 million or Rs 1.8 billion a kilometre — around double the cost-per-km of the completed 95-km stretch from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa on the Southern Expressway. The Colombo-Katunayake Expressway cost US$ 350 million or Rs 45.7 billion, official figures show.
In contrast, the Kottawa to Pinnaduwa highway — which is 70 kilometres longer — cost US$ 7.8 million or Rs 1 billion a kilometre. That part of the Southern Expressway project cost the taxpayers US$ 741.1m or Rs 96.8 billion and this includes the cost of US$ 392.35 million or Rs. 51 billion.
The Colombo-Katunayake Expressway was mostly funded by a loan from China through the Exim Bank. Its terms of repayment are not known. The balance was met by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the completed portion of the Southern Expressway was funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Japan. Construction of one section of it was contracted out to the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) with the concurrence of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
It was reported in 2009 that CHEC had more than doubled the original contract value amid cost escalations and a decision to widen the road.
Construction of the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway started in September 2009. It was initially estimated to cost US$292 million or Rs. 38 billion), with US$ 288.2m or Rs. 37.6 billion to be through a loan facility from China.
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