Sri Lanka approves Indian grant for 100 new Suwa Seriya ambulances

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to obtain an Indian grant for 100 new ambulances with full medical facilities for the 1990 Suwa Seriya emergency ambulance service.

The Government of India agreed to provide the grant following a special request from the Government of Sri Lanka. The Minister of Health and Mass Media submitted the proposal to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with India to obtain the funding.

The new ambulances will support the service as its current fleet of 322 ambulances becomes increasingly prone to mechanical faults. The fleet collectively travels approximately nine million kilometres each year.

Suwa Seriya provides free, 24-hour emergency ambulance services across all districts of Sri Lanka, handling between 1,000 and 1,200 patient transport requests daily.

The service was launched in 2016 with a financial grant from the Government of India and expanded nationwide in 2018.