Sri Lanka Energy Minister Resigns Over Coal Import Corruption Probe

email: online@newsofbahrain.com 

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody resigned on Friday after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake ordered an investigation into alleged large-scale corruption linked to coal imports.

The government said Jayakody stepped down to allow the inquiry to proceed impartially. The ministry’s top bureaucrat also resigned.

The move follows a government audit released last week which found that substandard coal supplies prevented the country’s largest thermal power plant, a 900-megawatt facility, from operating at full capacity.

To make up for the shortfall, Sri Lanka’s state electricity utility relied on more expensive diesel-powered generation during a period of elevated global energy prices driven by conflict in the Middle East.

The president’s office announced the formation of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to determine whether irregularities or unlawful acts took place in coal procurement. It added that coal purchases dating back to 2009 would also be reviewed.

According to the National Audit Office, the supplier should face penalties of 2.33 billion Sri Lankan rupees (about $7.65 million) for delivering coal below the required calorific value, a key measure of fuel quality and energy output.

The audit estimated direct losses to the state utility at 2.24 billion rupees.

Opposition parties claimed the added cost of switching to diesel generation may have reached 8 billion rupees (around $26 million), though the government said the final figure could be significantly lower.

The controversy is a setback for Dissanayake, who won office in 2024 on promises to tackle entrenched corruption and reform state institutions.