Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2020-11-16

Changing the name of Manthai Salt Limited as 'National Salt Company' and transferring the ownership of all government owned Salterns in the Northern Province to the National Salt Company

- The Ceylon Salt Company was established by privatizing the Sri Lanka Salt Corporation in 1990 and all Salterns except the Salterns located in Northern Province were brought under the purview of the said Company. Subsequently, in the year 2001, a State-owned public company called Manthai Salt Ltd. was established and the administrativeand the operational activities of the Salterns located in the Northern Province were brought under the said Company. In accordance with the Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2196/27 dated 2020‑10‑06, the Manthai Salt Ltd. and the Elephant Pass Saltern have been incorporated as two public enterprises under the purview of the Ministry of Industries. Further, it has been found that maintenance of all Salterns located in the Northern Province under a single administrative structure would be economically and administratively more advantageous other than maintaining those as separate limited companies. Accordingly, taking into account the present needs, the proposal made by the the Minister of Industries to change the company name of Manthai Salt Ltd. functioning as a fully State-owned company under the Ministry of Industries, as “National Salt Company” and to transfer the ownership, administrative activities and operational activities of the Elephant Pass Saltern located in the Northern Province to the National Salt Company, was approved by the Cabinet.