Raigam to Set up Saltern in Trinco, Sri Lanka

13th October 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka granted investment approval to Raigam Eastern Salt Company Limited to commence operations under the BOI. Mr. Dhammika Perera, Chairman / Director General signed the agreement on behalf of the BOI and formally presented the BOI Certificate of Registration to Dr. Ravi Liyanage, Chairman / CEO of Kingdom of Raigam.

The investment agreement signed with Raigam Eastern Salt Company is a project to manufacture salt for the local market. The venture is an investment of Rs. 575 million, sponsored by the Kingdom of Raigam providing employment for a work force of 900.Dr. Liyanage stated “Salt is a lucrative market as Sri Lanka still imports around 25% to 30% of the local salt requirement from India and other countries. Sri Lanka has not been manufacturing salt to its maximum capacity due to changed weather patterns in the dry zone and salt not been produced in the North and East areas. The national salt requirement is around 150,000 metric tons per annum of which about 120,000 metric tons of consumer salt”.

He also noted that manufacturers who invest in the industry to make salt have to wait about 5 years to get the saltern to run at maximum capacity.

“The kingdom of Raigam was the first to setup a salt refinery, to manufacture table salt. The salt refinery was established in the Wayamba province under the BOI 300 Enterprise Programme in 2006” stated the Chairman.

The company will setup a saltern in an 1800 acre area in Trincomalee. Dr. Liyanage said that at maximum capacity the saltern is expected to produce about 70,000 – 80,000 metric tons of common salt annually. The company also expects to set up a state-of-the-art chemical plant in Puttalam. The chemical plant is expected to produce chemicals, which are manufactured using salt as a raw material. The Kingdom of Raigam, established in 1996 is a diversified group of companies incorporated in Sri Lanka, engaged in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. As the market leader for certain products handled by the group, The Kingdom of Raigam has won many awards for excellence in Quality.

Chairman / CEO, Dr. Ravi Liyanage and Managing Director Mr. Ganaka Amarasinghe of The Kingdom of Raigam signed the agreement on behalf of the company.