Colombo Lotus Tower project incurs Sri Lanka US$113 million in maintenance reportedly huge and annual revenue is estimated at present at around $8.2 million.
The opening of the Colombo Lotus Tower, South Asia’s tallest structure, to the public on September 152022, has revived focus on the nature of Chinese lending practices in Sri Lanka.
The mega scale project has generated a revenue of Rs. 268 million since September 15 2022, an official said.
Built at an estimated cost of $113 million, the Lotus Tower project was constructed on an $88 million loan from the EXIM Bank of China, with the Sri Lankan government bearing the balance costs.
Often portrayed as a symbol of the unproductive excessive spending of the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, the tower project underscores the importance of transparency in development finance.
Work on the project commenced in 2012 and was plagued by delays. The Rajapaksa administration said that the purpose of the project was to improve Sri Lanka’s telecommunications infrastructure and provide leisure activities for the public.
In the first fortnight of its opening to the public, over 100,000 people visited the tower. The average daily income from ticket sales has been around $5,500 and the expected annual revenue is about $8.2 million.
The CEO of the newly-formed Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company Maj. General (retired) Prasad Samarasinghe said that the bulk of this revenue would come from entertainment ventures.
A Singaporean company called Go Bungy, which will be initiated in the second quarter of 2023 and it is expected that 130 jumps will take place per day. Around 17,000 tourists are expected this year for bungee jumping alone
The tower which is still not fully opened attracted half a million visitors within the first three months of its opening, the official said, adding that a plaque and a gift voucher were presented to the milestone visitor who had travelled from Matara.
The tower is now open to small boutiques by the Lake Edge. Selected bidders are currently being signed on for the retail and restaurant outlets, the official added.
The controversial telecommunication tower has attracted a bungee jumping offer, with a, the official said.
‘Among the 500,000 visitors to the Tower, there had been 4,083 foreign tourists, according to official data.
The main activities for now are the observation deck and a revolving restaurant, for which bids are still underway. Facilities were to be opened in the next two to three months, based on the tenders expected to be offered to shops and retailers, out of which many are still in the tendering procedure.
A statement from the President’s Media Division (PMD) said that the Colombo Lotus Tower Private Company is engaged in negotiations with 58 investment companies and has expressed interest in entering into agreements with 22 of them.
The tower, said to the tallest in South Asia, triggered controversy when Indian government raised concerns over its purpose as China was behind the construction amid concerns over spying, Sri Lanka government officials claimed.
The contract to build the $104.3 million tower – 80 percent of which was funded by Exim Bank of China – had been awarded in 2012 to China National Electronics Importers and Exporters Corporation (CEIEC) and Aerospace Long March International Trade Co. Ltd, (ALIT) by the Cabinet of ministers.
Former president Maithripalaa Sirisena after inaugurating the tower in 2019 alleged that ALIT had been misappropriating some Rs. 2 billion ($11 million) deposited with it by Sri Lanka’s state-run Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC).
