The sixth capacity-building program under the aegis of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was successfully conducted from 27 October to 07 November 2025. The MoU was signed in December 2024 during the State Visit to India of President of Sri Lanka H.E Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and provides for capacity building of 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over a period of five years.
A total of 40 Sri Lankan officers participated in the sixth program, conducted on the theme ‘Clean Cities, Better Future: Transforming Urban Sri Lanka with Regional Practices’. This was based on highly positive feedback of the participants in the fifth program conducted on a similar theme from 22 September to 03 October 2025.
Aligned with President Dissanayake’s ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative announced on 01 January 2025, the program, through presentations and expert-led discussions, covered subjects such as eco-friendly planning and building of smart cities, solid and liquid waste management, innovation and digital transformation at local level, urban transportation systems, etc. Field visits provided practical exposure to noteworthy initiatives relevant to the program’s theme at leading institutions such as National Institute of Urban Affairs, Mussoorie–Dehradun Development Authority, Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Tehkhand Waste-to-Energy Plant and Delhi Metro Rail Project.
With the successful conclusion of the sixth capacity-building program, the total number of officers trained under the NCGG-SLIDA MoU has reached 241.
Capacity-building is an important pillar of India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka. Reinforcing India’s commitment further in this sector, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, during his State Visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, announced additional 700 customized training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals. This significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India thus will now benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.
