Explained: Sri Lanka's salt crisis and how India is helping

Sri Lanka is running desperately short of salt.

While the situation is tinged with irony given the fact that the country is surrounded by the sea on all sides, it is no laughing matter for the citizens of the island nation.

This is just the latest crisis to hit Sri Lanka over the past few years.

People in Sri Lanka have had to struggle with a shortage of food, medicine and fuel since 2022.

But what happened? What do we know? How is India helping?

Let’s take a closer look:

What happened?

As per The Independent, social media is flooded with pictures of empty supermarket shelves.

“There is a severe shortage of salt. Supermarket shelves are running out of salt and consumers are getting frustrated,” Jamila Husain, editor of Daily Mirror, wrote on X.

Consumers in Sri Lanka are having to spend days hunting for salt.

“Had to hunt for salt for the past few days and finally found salt in Boralasgamuwa. Another day in Sri Lanka,” one citizen wrote on social media.

The lucky who find it end up having to pay double the market price.

As per Organiser.org, citizens are having to shell out as much as Rs 145 per kilo for salt.

Why is this happening?

As per The Independent, the salt shortage in Sri Lanka is due to domestic production crashing.

As per AsiaNews.it, salt production in Sri Lanka usually takes place in March-April and October-November.

But heavy rainfall and lack of sufficient light since mid-March has caused output to plummet at the Hambantota, Elephant Pass and Puttalam salterns.

The incessant rains have also washed away 15,000 kilos of harvested salt that was ready to be collected.

Puttalam alone provides 60 per cent of the country’s domestic output, as per Organiser.org.

A 50 kilo bag of salt at Puttalam, which used to be sold for Rs 420, is now being sold for close to Rs 2000.

The Independent quoted trade minister Wasantha Samarasinghe as saying, “They expected to get a harvest in March, and then in May. But in May also production has broken down due to rain.”

As per Tamil Guardian, the Elephant Pass and Kurunchativu salterns prior to 1990 would produce 85,000 metric tonnes of salt annually.

However, the armed conflict in Sri Lanka caused production to decline in both these salterns.

Production at the Elephant Pass stopped entirely after it was captured by The Liberation Tigers (LTTE).

Today, the Elephant Pass produces just 20,000 tonnes of salt annually.

As per Organiser.org, Sri Lanka’s current salt demand is estimated at 180,000 metric tonnes.

But the salt industry produces only between 135,000 and 140,000 metric tonnes per year – enough to meet 60 to  65 per cent of domestic demand.

How is India helping?

India has extended a hand towards Sri Lanka in its time of need.

New Delhi has sent Colombo over 3000 metric tons of salt, as per Organiser.org.

Of this, 2,800 metric tonnes were provided by Indian government-owned salt firms.

The rest 250 metric tonnes were bought from private Indian firms.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and the diplomatic machine in Colombo are coordinating the delivery.

Some have expressed frustration with the situation.

“It’s ironic that an island nation surrounded by the ocean continues to face recurring salt shortages. And once again, for something as basic as salt, we’re turning to India – just as we do for fuel, medicines, and other essentials,” academic Dr Chandana Wickaramasinghe wrote on X.

According to data, around 6 million Sri Lankans, nearly a third of the country’s population, faced food insecurity during the prolonged economic crisis.

But others are grateful.

“India’s support during our worst crises—economic, medical, or now climatic—has been unwavering,”  a senior Sri Lankan bureaucrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Organiser.org. “This is what a real neighbourhood-first policy looks like.”

Sri Lanka’s politicians said they were left facing no choice.

“Given the failed harvest, we had no choice but to import salt despite our efforts to support the local industry,” Samarasinghe was quoted as saying by The Independent.

Sri Lanka in January bought 35,000 tonnes of salt from India – the first time it had done so in 15 years.

Interestingly, Samarasinghe on Monday said his country had not relaxed the import ban on salt due to requests from the industry.

We first imported about 12,500 tonnes of salt,” Samarasinghe was quoted as saying by EconomyNext.com. “The salt producers association told us not to bring any more salt after we brought the 12,000 tonnes.

Previous administrations in Sri Lanka had placed import controls on salt.

With inputs from agencies