The Cabinet of Ministers has given clearance to Kahatagaha Graphite to seek an investor to add value to its production.

Accordingly, Minister of Industries and Supply Chain Management Wimal Weerawansa has proposed to call competitive bids to find a partner to add value to the mined graphite.

Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Limited is a company fully owned by the government whereas an amount of 65 – 70 metric tons of graphite per month is excavated in the Kahatagaha mine governed by the Company. Sri Lanka contributes only 7% of the graphite requirement in the global market. The essentiality of value addition to the graphite extracted from Kahatagaha mine excavations since there is no possibility of influencing the global market under such grounds.

Hence, the government has recognized value addition as the only way to enhance the export value of graphite and had approved the proposal to seek expressions of interest from prospective investors.