The cabinet has approved a scheme to lease approximately 247 hectares of state-owned plantation land to foreign-employed Sri Lankans and diaspora investors, targeting young entrepreneurs who remit foreign exchange to the country.
Sri Lanka's cabinet approved a new initiative in January 2026 aimed at mobilizing underutilized state plantation resources by making them available to diaspora entrepreneurs and foreign-employed nationals. The scheme represents an effort to channel foreign remittances into agricultural and related sectors while maximizing productive use of government-held land.
The program will distribute 247 hectares across three state entities: 117 hectares from the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, 88 hectares from the Janatha Estates Development Board, and 42 hectares from Elkaduwa Plantations Ltd. According to the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, successful applicants will receive plots ranging from one to four hectares through a formal procurement process. Individual investors must be under 50 years of age to qualify.
The initiative prioritizes individuals with significant foreign employment history, specifically favoring those who have worked abroad for at least three years within the past decade. The scheme permits investment across multiple sectors including conventional plantation agriculture, renewable energy projects such as hydropower and solar installations, plantation-based manufacturing, freshwater fisheries, and other agribusiness innovations connected to the plantation industry.
The government formulated the program in consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure practical implementation. Officials frame the initiative as a mechanism to attract diaspora capital into productive sectors while addressing land underutilization within state plantation enterprises.
