Redeveloping the Second World War-era oil tank farms in Sri Lanka’s eastern Trincomalee district is the “permanent solution” to the energy crisis, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, adding that the government was taking steps to expedite the project backed by India and the United Arab Emirates.
“Temporary solutions are not sustainable, we need a long-term strategy to deal with oil storage and distribution given the global energy situation,” Mr. Herath told The Hindu on Saturday (March 21, 2026), reiterating his recent Parliament address.
“That is why at the very beginning, our government signed the MoU with India and the UAE.,” he said, referring to the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the three parties in April 2025, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation, to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub.
The move drew attention as one of the first major MoUs on strategic projects, signed by the Anura Kumara Dissanayake administration after its big win in the November 2025 general elections. The move is widely perceived as a big shift, since the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main constituent of the ruling National People’s Power, had long opposed Indian involvement in the project.
