Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody resigned on Friday after the president ordered an investigation into allegations of large-scale corruption in coal imports, the government said.
The resignation follows a government audit last week that found substandard coal prevented a 900-megawatt thermal power plant — the country’s biggest — from operating at full capacity.
To cover the shortfall, the state utility relied on more expensive diesel generation during a global energy crunch sparked by the Middle East conflict.
“President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate whether any irregularities or unlawful activities took place in relation to the importation of coal,” his office said.
It said minister Jayakody resigned to allow the investigation to proceed impartially. The ministry’s top bureaucrat also stepped down.
The coal purchase has embarrassed Dissanayake, who came to power in September 2024 on a promise to end deep-rooted corruption.
His office said the government will investigate coal purchases dating back to 2009.
The National Audit Office said the Indian supplier should be fined 2.33 billion rupees ($7.65 million) for providing coal well below the specified calorific value, a measure of the energy released when coal is burned.
The direct loss to the state electricity utility from the inferior coal was estimated at 2.24 billion rupees ($7.33 million), slightly less than the amount that could be recovered through a penalty, the Audit Office said.
However, the opposition said the use of diesel to compensate for the reduced coal output cost an estimated 8 billion rupees ($26 million), a figure the government has argued could be much lower.
In the face of the global energy crisis, the government has raised electricity prices by up to 40 percent and fuel prices by a third since the US and Israel began attacking Iran leading to a global energy supply crisis.
Sri Lanka imports all its oil and coal requirements.
