Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group that was chosen to develop a major port terminal project in Sri Lanka, is scheduled to meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo today to discuss the West Container Terminal (WCT) project.

Last month, Adani Group signed a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement with its Sri Lankan partner in the project John Keells Holdings, and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), to jointly develop the West Container Terminal (WCT) at the Colombo Port.

Adani is currently in Sri Lanka on a private visit, Indian media reported.

India's 'The Hindu' newspaper said there was no Indian governmental role in the WCT project, with the Adani Group entering the picture as a private investor, amid questions from Sri Lankan experts on the apparent lack of transparency in how the investor was chosen.

Confirming the project in a tweet on March 15, 2021, Mr. Adani said: “Grateful to the leaders of GoI, GoSL, SLPA & John Keells for the opportunity to build WCT, Colombo. This partnership is a symbol of the deep strategic relations between countries with great intertwined history. It will launch decades of container growth.”

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), which runs a dozen ports in India, said it was “bolstering its global footprint” with the WCT.