Sri Lanka approves Rs1.4bn for 10-city development plan

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved a proposal to fast-track urban modernization and branding projects across select towns, including the president’s hometown of Thambuttegama, at a cost of 1,475 million rupees.

The plan, called the 10 Cities Development Program, aims to use a prioritized, data-based approach for urban development across the country, with 217 prioritized projects, minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters.

These projects will take place in Jaffna, Matale, Hatton, Batticaloa, Chilaw, Thambuttegama, Vavuniya, Eheliyagoda, Badulla, and Matara.

The basis for selecting these places was not explained.

The approved money includes 500 million rupees that was already set aside in the budget for developing these cities.

Separately, the 2026 budget has set aside 1,300 million rupees to the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to redevelop and brand cities like Anuradhapura, Kataragama, Colombo, and Kandy, with 325 million rupees to be spent this year.

Jayatissa said the government wants to build unique identities for these cities to attract visitors.

“When it comes to attracting domestic and international tourists, developing those cities in a manner that creates a unique identity is a globally recognized concept. That is exactly what branding is,” Jayatissa said.

The program will not make every city look the same, he said.

Instead, the plan is to design development projects that match the unique features of each individual city.

“This does not mean developing Anuradhapura, Colombo, Matara, and Trincomalee all in the exact same manner. Instead, the expectation is to implement development projects by taking the unique characteristics existing within those respective cities into consideration,” Jayatissa said.