Two companies from China and India – Jio Platforms and Gortune International Investment Holdings respectively – have been pre-qualified for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage of the divestiture of the majority stake in the state-owned Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), according to the Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry.

The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) acting through the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies, had recently called for Request for Qualification (RFQs) from potential investors for the divestiture of its shares in Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. 

The deadline for submission of proposals ended at 2 p.m. on 12 January 2024.

The Finance Ministry’s State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit (SRU) states that the RIQs received were evaluated based on the Special Guidelines on Divestiture of State-Owned Enterprises approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in July 2023.

Accordingly, the Cabinet Appointed Special Project Committee (SPCC) and the Special Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee (SpCANC) have pre-qualified India’s Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and China’s Gortune International Investment Holdings as bidders for the RFP stage.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) acts as the Transaction Advisor for the divestiture of shares held by the Government in Sri Lanka Telecom PLC.