DHAKA: Sri Lanka’s new government will review Chinese infrastructure projects awarded under the previous administration, a junior minister said, a move bound to please Indian and Western powers concerned about Beijing’s access in the island state.

On Friday, the government said it would review a US$1.5 billion port deal with China Communication Construction Co Ltd over concerns about the Chinese company getting land on a freehold basis in a high-security zone.

That port project had been of particular concern for India, the destination for the majority of the transshipment cargo through Colombo. India was furious with the last government after it allowed a submarine to dock there twice.

Harsha De Silva, deputy minister for Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, said on Saturday that president Maithripala Sirisena’s government would look at benchmarks for Chinese infrastructure costs using independent audit firms.

‘We will certainly do that because we want to show the people the true cost of these projects as well as what they are paying for these projects,’ De Silva told reporters, according to The Straits Times.

BDST: 1558 HRS, JAN 18, 2015