The High Commissioner of India Santosh Jha, and the Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake, on 11 January, jointly launched the restoration works of the Northern Railway Line under an Indian grant of US $ five million. The project forms part of the Indian reconstruction and rehabilitation package of $ 450 million announced during the visit of External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to Sri Lanka.

The scale and severity of the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah necessitated urgent restoration of critical connectivity infrastructure, particularly railways. In this context, the Indian Government announced grant assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the said Line, which was originally built with Indian assistance. The restoration works are being undertaken by an Indian public sector undertaking with extensive experience in railway construction and rehabilitation, IRCON International Limited. The works cover three severely affected sections of the said Line: Maho–Omanthai, Omanthai–Jaffna, and Medawachchiya–Mannar which suffered extensive damage leading to major disruptions in rail connectivity across the Northern and North Central regions. It is planned to restore regular train services to pre-Ditwah frequencies within three months, by April 2026, ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, with the remaining works targeted for completion by May 2026. The accelerated timeline will involve the large-scale deployment of manpower and specialised machinery. IRCON International Limited will also complete pending ancillary works on the Maho–Omanthai railway line, for which India has recently continued its existing Line of Credit.

India’s cumulative financial assistance to Sri Lanka’s railway sector stands at approximately $ 1.2 billion. This includes the construction and rehabilitation of nearly 500 kms of railway track, the provision of signalling systems across around 400 kms, and the supply of rolling stock.