The Government of India has agreed to provide a financial grant to Sri Lanka to procure 100 new ambulances for the 1990 Suwa Seriya Ambulance Service.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries to facilitate the receipt of the grant.
Established in 2016 with financial assistance from India, the Suwa Seriya service was expanded to cover the entire island in 2018.
The free, 24-hour service operates across all districts and currently handles between 1,000 and 1,200 patient transport requests daily.
According to a statement issued by the Department of Government Information, the ambulance fleet travels approximately nine million kilometres annually. However, mechanical failures have increasingly affected the existing fleet of 322 ambulances.
In response to these operational challenges, the Minister of Health and Mass Media submitted a proposal to enter into an MoU with the Indian Government to obtain 100 new ambulances equipped with comprehensive medical facilities.
The proposal was subsequently approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
