The investor behind the Ambuluwawa Cable Car Project, regarded as Sri Lanka’s first cable car project, has decided to withdraw from the project. The investor, Amber Adventures (Pvt) Ltd of China, says this decision was taken due to obstacles in Sri Lanka’s regulatory processes and arbitrary actions by government officials.
In a written notification sent to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka yesterday (the 13th), the company stated that despite having obtained approvals from technical institutions, the Central Environmental Authority moved to suspend construction based on complaints that spread via social media. This, along with several other issues, led to the decision to exit the project.
The project was launched in 2022, during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, through a consortium of investors from Sri Lanka, China, and the United States.
The total investment value of the project is USD 12.75 million, of which USD 3.5 million has already been invested, according to the company.
The project was to be implemented on a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) basis, with an agreement to hand over the system—valued at over LKR 5 billion—to the government free of charge after a period of 13 years.
The company also pointed out that all necessary approvals had been obtained, including Cabinet approval and clearances from the Urban Development Authority, the Ministry of Defence, and the Central Environmental Authority.
Amber Adventures rejected allegations that the project site was prone to landslides, stating that inspections conducted by the National Building Research Organisation after a cyclone had confirmed the site’s stability.
The company said that continuous interference by government officials had made it commercially unviable to continue the project. It added that it is preparing to take international legal action to recover losses incurred.
The letter further stated that the failure of the Board of Investment to protect investors represents a serious regulatory failure, and that operating under such an unpredictable environment is no longer possible.
Amber Adventures has now joined a list of prominent international companies that have exited Sri Lanka since 2022 due to economic instability and policy inconsistencies.
Previously, companies and entities such as Japan’s Mitsubishi, which operated in Sri Lanka for 60 years, France’s Decathlon, India’s Zomato, and the Adani Group, which withdrew from a controversial wind power project, had also ceased operations in the country.
Economic analysts say that this latest withdrawal sends a negative signal to foreign investors regarding the security of investments in Sri Lanka.
