Sri Lanka’s Karainagar boatyard, located 20-kilometres off of Jaffna in the Karaitivu island, has been inaugurated with an investment of Rs. 330 million by the Indian government, the Department of Government Information (DGI) said, in a post published on its official Meta page.

“Work had begun on the Karainagar Cey-Nor boatyard, along with other development projects aimed at economic and infrastructure development in the Jaffna district. In order to address the severe hardships faced by the fishing community in the North, due to its long period of inactivity, work began on the modernisation of this dock at a cost of Rs. 330 million, with assistance from the Government of India,” the post said.

Cey-Nor Foundation Ltd. is a government-owned company that manufactures boats and marine equipment.

Cey-Nor Foundation Chairperson Ajitha Edirisinghe told The Daily Business Morning in December of 2024 that the Indian government was to allocate a sum of Rs. 290 million to renovate a dormant boatyard, which was last functional in 2008.

When asked why the boatyard had not been functional since 2008, Edirisinghe said that he was not aware as to why the boatyard had not been revived sooner.

“The plans to renovate this have been long coming for three to four years and they have been drawn and prepared by the experts at Cey-Nor,” he asserted.

The New Indian Express in January had similarly reported that the Indian government was to provide Rs. 290 million to develop the Karainagar Boatyard, based on a press release made by the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka.

According to the High Commission, the project was intended to cover civil works and for procurement, including the installation of a plant, storing of machinery equipment, material and servicing boats.

Further, the High Commission stated that by then, the Indian government had a $ 5 billion cooperation portfolio with Sri Lanka.