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2026 Budget commits over Rs. 688 b to construction: Sector poised for acceleration
Daily FT
|November 27, 2025
SRI Lanka's 2026 Budget signals one of the strongest commitments to construction-sector investment in recent years, with more than Rs.
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President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake
688 billion channelled into roads, housing, water systems, urban development and public infrastructure. The allocations, detailed in the BDO Budget Highlights 2026, outlines an ambitious rollout of projects expected to shape national connectivity, modernise cities and upgrade essential public services.
Highways dominate: A push to reconnect the country
The Transport, Roads and Highways Ministry receives the largest share, reflecting the government's intention to reactivate suspended projects and deliver long-delayed transport corridors. Key provisions include: Rs. 342 billion for nationwide road development, Rs. 66.15 billion for the Kadawatha-Mirigama stretch of the Central Expressway, Rs. 10.5 billion and Rs. 20 billion for two further segments of Phase III, Rs. billion and Rs. 1.5 billion for land acquisition for the Kurunegala-Dambulla and Ruwanpura expressways, Rs. 330 million for feasibility work on a new elevated highway link to Marine Drive.
This concentration of funding positions the road network as the backbone of the 2026 construction agenda.
Urban development: Building the next generation of cities
This story is from the November 27, 2025 edition of Daily FT.
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