Boat service between Sri Lanka and India to be delayed further: Lankan Minister

The much-anticipated passenger boat service between India and Sri Lanka will be further delayed after New Delhi changed the port chosen for the boat service, a senior minister said here on Saturday.

The boast service was to begin in April.

Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva said the commencement of passenger boat service between India and Sri Lanka will be delayed, Newsfirst Lanka reported.

The minister said that India has changed the port it had chosen for the boat service.

India has requested a few more days to increase the facilities at the Nagapatnam port in Tamil Nadu which has been selected for that purpose, the Minister was quoted as saying by the report.

Earlier the minister said the ferry service between Karaikal in Puducherry and Kankesanthurai in port in Jaffna district in Sri Lanka would begin on April 29. The construction of a 1,000 square metre passenger terminal for immigration and customs clearance of travellers who intend to use the ferry service was undertaken by the Sri Lanka Navy.

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