Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s largest maker of sport-utility vehicles, may provide auto loans and set up resorts in Sri Lanka as the island’s economy recovers a
fter the end of a civil war.“There are huge opportunities,” Vice Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra said in the capital Colombo today. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. may provide auto loans and also lend for rural housing, the company said in a statement.
Officials of the group, which owns software-services providers, runs resorts, and provides loans for purchase of SUVs in India, will separately return to Sri Lanka for meetings to set up the businesses, Mahind
ra said. Last week, Mahindra was named as the preferred bidder for a South Korean automaker, as the Mumbai-based company aims to expand its overseas business.The group also plans to expand tractor sales in Sri Lanka and is gauging investment opportunities in property development and economic zones, he said. Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd. may set up projects as more Indians visit the island, according to the statement.
The end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year war in May 2009 has lured back tourists to the teardrop-shaped island and helped the South Asian nation’s benchmark index climb 60 percent this year, the best performance among the Asia-Pacific region’s 16 biggest markets. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government is aiming to accelerate economic growth to 7 percent in 2010, the fastest pace since 2006.
The Mumbai-based automaker was named preferred bidder for a controlling stake in Ssangyong Motor Co.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anusha Ondaatjie in Colombo at anushao@bloomberg.net
Sri Lanka is emerging as a good tourist place, so not surprised to see M & M investing in Sri Lanka
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