Business
Eravur Fabric Park could transform sustainable textile manufacture in Sri Lanka
Since the first announcement in June 2020, expectations have been high on the potential of the Eravur Fabric Processing Park to catalyze a new era for Sri Lankan textile and apparel manufacture.
Supported through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka, working in close collaboration with the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), the apex body of the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, the vision for Eravur is beginning to take shape.
Of the allocated approx 300 acres of land, fifty have been allocated for the Park’s maiden investment of US$ 35 million to establish a state-of-the-art fabric mill. Negotiations are also underway with two international companies to infuse mega investments for the remainder. The Park is estimated to attract a cumulative investment of US$ 300 million. The zone is also seeking further investments towards Dyeing, Washing, Knitting, Weaving, and other associated and ancillary activities.
Cabinet approval for the Zone’s classification under the Strategic Development Projects Act was also secured, enabling the extension of tax and other relief and incentives to investors.
Rapid progress towards vertical integration
“We would like to see the first company commence commercial operations in the next 6 months to 1 year,” stated BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala. “We have been very aggressive on timelines because of the clear consensus on the nationally significant value that the Park can generate. At present, all land has been demarcated, and water and electricity supply are being finalized. In excess of half the commercial land has been allocated or reserved, and we are seeing great demand. There is clear recognition locally and internationally as to the immediate potential. If necessary, we are able to expand the zone even further.”
Leveraged in support of Sri Lanka’s highly developed apparel manufacturing sector, which has steadily benchmarked itself on global standards for ethical, sustainable production and high levels of technical and technological expertise, Eravur’s promoters also see the project as an opportunity for Sri Lankan-made apparel to take global leadership on sustainability in its most holistic sense.
Mohottala explained further that the most immediate benefit from the Park’s establishment will be in the cost advantages and enhanced economies of scale gained through capacity expansion and vertical integration of domestic supply chains.
Currently, Sri Lanka has approximately 300 apparel manufacturing facilities across the country. By contrast, it has only 7 textile and raw material factories capable of producing fabric for export, and for conversion into garments for export. At its peak, Sri Lanka imported over 250,000 MT of fabric both for export-oriented apparel manufacturing and for local consumption in 2019, at a cost of US $ 2.2 billion.
In the context of unprecedented disruptions across global supply chains in particular and persistent commodity and currency volatility, increased availability of high quality raw materials will enable an immediate and drastic reduction in raw material costs, while also conserving foreign currency.
Increased domestic production of textiles also translates to a higher percentage of domestic value. If that threshold increases from its current 52% to 65%, it qualifies for a larger proportion of Sri Lankan exports for zero-duty benefits under GSP Plus1.
The culmination of a pioneering national journey in sustainability
The economic argument in favour of investing in Eravur is bolstered by its potential to also be the most sustainable venture of its kind in the entire Asian region, with local stakeholders having already committed to establishing extensive renewable energy facilities, water recycling facilities, science-based targets, and circular business models.
At a macro-level, increased local production capacity will contribute significantly to all these targets by reducing the end-to-end length of Sri Lanka’s apparel supply chains. This in turn enables tighter backward integration and lower carbon emissions.
Taking a cue from the Sri Lankan textile and apparel’s industry’s outstanding achievements on environmental sustainability to date, the Zone is being designed from the ground-up to facilitate and incentivize sustainability in every facet of its operations. In terms of fabric processing, the main focus is on wastewater treatment.
Mohottala continues: “Sri Lanka’s environmental standards for industries are quite stringent, especially compared with regional competitors. A key feature of the Zone will be its central wastewater treatment facility with a sea outfall, which will require a high standard of treatment. Fortunately, we already have strong expertise available locally, with many of Sri Lanka’s textile producers having established facilities on par with global best practices on wastewater treatment. We have used this to our advantage by calling in the local industry’s technical experts and drawing on their pioneering experiences to optimize wastewater treatment protocols at Eravur.”
Adding that this will be one of many positive attributes all stakeholders downstream of the textiles produced at the Zone can lay claim to, Mohottala says, “With the greater localization of production, we also gain improved oversight and control over environmental standards within the Zone. This also enables greater transparency, traceability, and accountability across the supply chain, which in turn will confer preferable competitive advantages to Sri Lankan apparel exporters. In addition, this will empower brands and retailers to make clear and credible claims to genuine sustainable sourcing.”
An end-to-end opportunity
Another significant advantage for Eravur is that it is purpose-built with the most advanced environmentally friendly technology available. This will also promote efficiency in energy and water consumption, as well as additional infrastructure for recycling and recovery of water used in production, for which the BOI aims to provide investors with additional incentives.
Notably, Eravur also enjoys a high level of solar irradiance and consistent high-wind conditions, making any manufacturing facility established in the area, ideally suited for solar and potentially, wind turbine power generation.
“Augmentation of the Zone’s energy requirements with plentiful renewable energy will enable cost savings on the energy-intensive aspects of wastewater recycling. Given the consistent annual reduction in the cost of solar and wind energy, the conditions at Eravur are another unique attraction for investment into the Zone, and potentially enables the entire supply chain to utilize global incentivizes around responsible and sustainable production,” Mohottala said.
In addition to the wastewater treatment protocols, the Zone will also include a sludge treatment facility, with further trials already underway for responsible disposal. These include tests using micro-algae to breakdown sludge, as well as utilizing sludge to fuel furnaces and as bricks with a bio-mat mask.
The final and potentially most vital contribution which the Eravur Fabric Processing Zone is the empowering impact it will have on the lives of Sri Lankans in Batticaloa. At present, the district has an estimated population of 621,887, of which, an estimated 60,912 individuals are below the poverty line. As at 2019 – prior to the pandemic – unemployment in the region stood at 6.4%
“With the development of the Zone, we will be able to create thousands of stable, well-paying direct and in-direct jobs. This could prove to be one of the most transformative developments to take place in the Eastern Province in recent history,” Mohottala concluded.
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), has embarked on a significant initiative to introduce the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) for listed entities in Sri Lanka. This move is expected to transform the way financial data is submitted, analyzed, and disseminated within the capital market.
XBRL is a global standard for digital reporting, specifically for financial business data. XBRL is the universal language for business data reporting and standardizes communication of financial reporting. It enhances data accuracy, simplifies reporting, and allows for more effective analysis and faster comparison of financial information by businesses, regulators, researchers, investors, and other stakeholders.
The primary objective of this initiative is to streamline the submission of financial and non-financial information of listed companies set out in the Interim Financial Statements and Annual Reports by listed companies in compliance with the XBRL taxonomy, ensuring a more efficient and effective dissemination of financial data to the market. The XBRL taxonomy would be developed jointly with CA Sri Lanka and SEC.
The CSE formally marked the beginning of this journey by signing a contract agreement with Microvista Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, India on 9th April 2025, to develop the XBRL system. Microvista Technologies (Pvt) Ltd is a leading compliance platform provider in India possessing extensive experience in XBRL based financial reporting implementations. A demonstration of the proposed system was held at the CSE premises for 30 selected listed companies, representing the banking, insurance, and other sectors. This session provided companies with a first look at the system’s interface and functionality, followed by a Q&A forum to gather initial feedback. The CSE will conduct awareness sessions for Listed Entities through a structured engagement framework.
CSE intends to adopt a phased approach for the implementation of XBRL based financial reporting. In phase one, CSE plans to convert Interim Financial Statements into XBRL based digital financial reporting in early 2026. Upon successful adaptation of phase one by the listed companies, the CSE envisions expanding the scope of XBRL based financial reporting to Annual Reports by 2027 and the submission of Sustainability Reports by 2028.
The adoption of XBRL brings a multitude of benefits to listed entities and market stakeholders. Built-in validation tools help identify inconsistencies or omissions, while the automated system facilitates faster and streamlined financial reporting. Tagged data can be reused across multiple platforms and reports, reducing duplication in data entry and significantly lowering compliance costs.
The implementation of XBRL supports transparency and increases capital market efficiency by helping users of business and financial information locate relevant details. For example, companies reporting under a common taxonomy provide specific details that are immediately comparable by investors and analysts in investment decision-making. XBRL enables listed companies to switch resources away from costly manual processes, typically involving time-consuming comparison, assembly and re-entry of data. Instead, they are able to redirect more effort on analysis, supported by software, which can validate and manipulate XBRL information.
Compared to manual data entry and analysis, XBRL would increase the accuracy of information and enable more value-added analysis, review, and decision-making. It also enhances data analytics capabilities for both regulators and investors, while improving accessibility to a wider pool of international investors through cross-border comparability. XBRL filing provides a reduction in total costs over the long term. This can benefit the organization in various ways, such as improved investor relations, investor coverage, and access to capital markets. Since, XBRL is a widely accepted filing approach adopted by many jurisdictions, many foreign portfolio investors are already used to XBRL formats. As such, they would prefer financial statements published in XBRL for their analytical purposes.
This strategic initiative by the CSE reinforces their shared commitment to modernizing financial reporting infrastructure and aligning Sri Lanka’s capital market with international best practices in transparency, accuracy, and accessibility.
Investor sentiment at the CSE became more positive yesterday and the market moved to a very healthy position due to external market factors.Investors were more optimistic about the government’s efforts succeeding in negotiating with the US authorities to get a concessionary arrangement from US’ reciprocal tariff increase of 46 percent on US exports, market analysts said.
Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index moved up by 155 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 38.9 points. Turnover stood at Rs 2.4 billion with seven crossings.
Those crossings were reported in JKH which crossed 8 million shares to the tune of Rs 160 million; its shares traded at Rs 20, Hemas Holdings 500,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 60.2 million and its shares sold at 120.50, Access Engineering 1.5 million shares crossed for Rs 60 million; its shares traded at Rs 40, Agarapathana Plantations 2.5 million shares crossed for Rs 41.2 million; its shares traded at Rs 16.50, Lanka IOC 300,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 39 million; its shares traded at Rs 130, Commercial Bank 212,000 shares crossed for Rs 29.1 million; its shares traded at Rs 137 and LB Finance 220,000 shares crossed for Rs 20.4 million; its shares sold at Rs 93.
In the retail market top six companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Sunshine Holdings Rs 177 million (7.6 million shares traded), JKH Rs 123 million (6.1 million shares traded), Swisstec Rs 116 million (2.3 million shares traded), Access Engineering Rs 100 million (2.1 million shares traded) Agarapathana Plantations Rs 100 million (6.1 million shares traded) and Hemas Holdings Rs 96 million (804,000 shares traded).During the day 125 million shares volumes changed hands in 17000 transactions.
It is said that manufacturing sector counters led the market, especially with JKH, while services sector and plantations sector counters performed well too.
Yesterday, the rupee opened stronger at Rs 299.60/80 to the US dollar in the spot market dealers said, while bond yields continued to fall.
The expectation of some sort of resolution to the US- China trade conflict was contributing to the positive momentum, dealers said.
Excess liquidity was also coming back to the market, after a festival drawdown.
A bond maturing on 15.12.2026 was quoted at 8.90/9.00 and closed at 8.85/98 percent down from 8.88/9.00 percent Wednesday.
By Hiran H Senewiratne
Business
Uber supported economic growth in Sri Lanka with LKR 160 billion of economic activity in 2024: Report
Uber has released findings from its 2024 Sri Lanka Economic Impact Report, compiled by global policy research firm Public First. The report highlights how Uber and Uber Eats together contributed LKR 160 billion in economic activity last year—underscoring their growing role in delivering flexible earning opportunities, expanding access to safer, affordable transportation, and helping local businesses reach more customers.
Uber has transformed the way people travel and order food, groceries and more, over the last few years. By making transportation and delivery services safer and accessible, the company has helped generate economic growth at a time when Sri Lanka has been emerging from financial uncertainty.
Uber’s operations are fueling far-reaching economic benefits across Sri Lanka. In 2024, the platform generated LKR 338 billion in consumer surplus and LKR 16 billion in added tourism value, while drivers and delivery partners reinvested LKR 660 million into local maintenance services. These figures reflect how Uber’s ecosystem is stimulating secondary markets and enabling value far beyond the digital space.
Complementing this economic uplift, Uber has empowered drivers with more stable incomes, and given 70% of them a crucial buffer during tough times. Uber Eats helped local merchants generate LKR 3.6 billion in new business, while affordable transport options allowed thousands of users to save time, budget, and enjoy safer journeys—even during emergencies.
-
News7 days agoFamily discovers rare species thought to be extinct for over a century in home garden
-
Features5 days agoRuGoesWild: Taking science into the wild — and into the hearts of Sri Lankans
-
News4 days agoOrders under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruptions Act No. 9 of 2023 for concurrence of parliament
-
Features6 days agoNew species of Bronzeback snake, discovered in Sri Lanka
-
News4 days agoProf. Rambukwella passes away
-
Features7 days agoThe ironies of history
-
News6 days agoPhoto of Sacred tooth relic: CID launches probe
-
Opinion5 days agoSri Lanka’s Foreign Policy amid Geopolitical Transformations: 1990-2024 – Part IX