News
It’s alright for new foreign fuel retailers to undercut CPC in pricing productsBy Rathindra Kuruwita
The Sri Lankan government has decided to allow three foreign companies to sell fuel at prices lower than those of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) if they so desire.
Earlier, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera told the media that three foreign companies would commence operations within the next two months.
The Minister told the media that agreements would be signed with the foreign companies within the next two to three weeks.
He said that the three companies were keen to commence operations in Sri Lanka and had requested the government to fast-track the registration process.
The Cabinet last week agreed to award licences to more foreign companies that intended to enter the local fuel market, Minister Wijesekera said.
China’s Sinopec, United Petroleum of Australia and RM Parks of the United States in a collaboration with Shell Plc will enter the fuel retail market in Sri Lanka.
The foreign companies will each be allocated 150 dealer-operated fuel stations that are currently operated by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. They will also be allowed to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka for 20 years.
The companies will also be allowed to establish 50 new fuel filling stations each in new locations.
Currently, the only two players in Sri Lanka’s market are Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Lanka IOC.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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