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The new Lanka Metro Transit (Pvt) Ltd (LMT) buses have become a political talking point in Colombo, and two fresh claims about them again went viral. One said the buses were imported with the money of businessman and former MP Dhammika Perera. The other said they carried the NPP’s “Rata Anurata” campaign stickers. We had already debunked the claim that the “Pvt” in the company’s name means private ownership (read that fact-check here). Here are the new posts.
Claim 1: Social Media Posts:
Posts alleging that Dhammika Perera funded the purchase of the Metro buses circulated as follows.
We therefore examined whether this was true.
Fact-Check:
Lanka Metro Transit is a state-owned company
Lanka Metro Transit (LMT) is a subsidiary of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), operating under the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development. Cabinet media releases state that it was incorporated on October 3, 2025. More details here.
The company is registered under the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 (PV00341933). The company chairman stated that its shares are held by two state entities:
- 40%: Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB)
- 60%: Sri Lanka Treasury, Finance Ministry
The chairman and the Transport Minister’s coordinating secretary confirmed that 100% of the shares are government-owned. Cabinet decisions show that the state provided equity funding. No official report or Cabinet decision names Dhammika Perera or any private individual as a shareholder or describes this as a private project or one funded by private donations.
“Pvt Ltd” does not mean private ownership
Under the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007, a “private company” must restrict the transfer of its shares, limit its shareholders to fifty and bar public share offers (Section 27). “Private” is therefore a legal classification of how a company’s shares are held and issued. It does not mean the owner is a private individual. Section 4(2) requires a company to have at least two shareholders, with a limited exception that allows a single shareholder, such as the Secretary to the Treasury holding shares on behalf of the Government. View the Act here.
The government imported these buses through an official procurement and tender process won by Indra Traders (Pvt) Ltd
On May 18, 2026, the Ministry of Transport and Indra Traders (Pvt) Ltd, the local agent for China’s FOTON, signed an agreement to import 104 buses. Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila C. K. Perera oversaw the signing. Details are available from Newswire and Ada Derana. The company chairman confirmed that a tender procedure was followed. More details here.
The supplier is a private company, but buying buses from it through a government procurement agreement does not make its shareholders the owners of the buses. There is no evidence that these buses were imported through Indra Traders or any other company using Dhammika Perera’s funds.
Dhammika Perera holds no known stake in Indra Traders or Lanka Metro Transit
We also checked whether Perera has any shareholding in either company at the center of the claim: LMT, which operates the buses, and Indra Traders, which supplied them. We found no evidence of a stake in either.
Lanka Metro Transit. The Cabinet decision of August 10, 2026, describes LMT as a company incorporated “as a subsidiary of the Sri Lanka Transport Board”, and records the approval of equity capital of Rs. 800 million and Rs. 267.5 million for it on the Transport Minister’s proposal (Cabinet Office). Neither the Cabinet decision nor any company official mentioned a private shareholder.
Indra Traders. The supplier is a family-run vehicle dealer. News.lk, the government news portal, identified Indra Silva as the Founder and Chairman of Indra Traders (Pvt) Ltd when he handed over a Rs. 100 million contributions to the “Rebuilding Sri Lanka” Fund in December 2025. His sons Rushanka Silva and Hashindra Silva, who sit on the board, accompanied him. News reported on October 11, 2026, that Rushanka Silva is the Managing Director and that Indra Traders has been FOTON’s sole agent in Sri Lanka since 2006. In a 2023 interview with Business Today, Indra Silva said he started selling vehicles in the 1970s and that his children were taking over the business.
Dhammika Perera’s holdings. Public profiles of his business interests center on the Hayleys and Vallibel One groups, whose companies include Singer (Sri Lanka), LB Finance, Royal Ceramics and Lanka Tiles. Indra Traders does not appear among them, and none of the sources we reviewed linked Perera to its ownership, its board or its FOTON agency.
Indra Traders is an unlisted private company, so its share register is not public. We could not review Registrar of Companies records for either company or therefore do not state exact shareholding percentages. Even if a private person held shares in a supplier, which would not show that he paid for the buses, which the Government funded.
The Ministry of Transport’s National Competitive Bidding (NCB) document (Procurement No. LMT/CEO/PRO/2026/010) for 50 buses for Lanka Metro Transit can be viewed on the ministry’s official website. It lists the “Government of Sri Lanka” as the funding source. This document covers 50 buses, not the 104-bus transaction.
On June 18, 2026, LMT representatives attended a ceremony at FOTON’s manufacturing plant in Beijing, China, marking the handover of the 104 tender-procured FOTON buses. Visuals are available here and the report here.
Bus acquisition: tender transaction, Clean Sri Lanka programme and Japanese grant
The company chairman told us that Lanka Metro Transit currently owns 122 buses. The first 10 were bought with funds allocated under the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme, which the Cabinet reportedly approved in February 2026. More details here, here and here.
The chairman added that a further batch came as a grant from the Japanese government. According to the Japanese Embassy, eight fully refurbished, used low-floor buses, donated by the City of Yokohama under a grant of USD 362,476, were handed over on September 2, 2026. The remaining 104 buses were imported under the agreement described above.
Cabinet decisions show government funding
Newswire reported on August 4, 2026, that the Cabinet had approved the Transport Minister’s proposal to buy 50 more low-floor buses as a 50% repeat order under government procurement guidelines. The order followed the contract signed on March 6, 2026, for 100 buses. The first phase of the project covers Kandy, Galle, and Jaffna, as Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa confirmed at a press briefing, shown below.
Cabinet media releases on the Metro company can be viewed here, here and here. On August 10, 2026, the Cabinet approved equity funding of Rs. 1,067.5 million for the company: Rs. 800 million for infrastructure, including a central workshop, bus depots, internal roads, and bus stands, and Rs. 267.5 million for 2027 operations.
Government funds were therefore clearly allocated for the Metro buses and their infrastructure. The Clean Sri Lanka programme and the Japanese grant come from state and foreign government channels, and neither offers any evidence of funding from a private businessman.
This is government procurement, not a Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
Sri Lankan PPP projects typically use long-term arrangements such as BOO (build-own-operate) and BOT (build-operate-transfer), in which private parties build, own and operate the asset (ADB). The Metro bus deal is different. A state company bought buses with government funds under a procurement agreement between the Transport Ministry and the supplier. PPP rules therefore do not apply, and government procurement guidelines and Cabinet approval do.
The company chairman denies any private link
We contacted S.M.U.P. Thilakaratne, Chairman of Lanka Metro Transit (Pvt) Ltd. He said that businessman Dhammika Perera and his institutions had no involvement in importing the Metro buses. He said the buses were bought with 100% government-allocated funds, totaling 122: 104 imported through Indra Traders, which won the government tender, 10 through the Clean Sri Lanka fund and 8 as Japanese aid.
The Transport Minister’s coordinating secretary also denies any private link
We also asked the Transport Minister’s coordinating secretary. He confirmed that the import of the Metro buses was funded entirely by the Government and that no private company was involved.
Claim 2: Social Media Posts:
Posts circulated claiming that Metro buses carry stickers with the phrase “Rata Anurata” and a person’s portrait on the front, back and interior seats, as shown below.
Facebook | Archived Link | Instagram
Fact-Check:
Political stickers are not visible in official or passenger footage
We therefore examined this claim. Lanka Metro Transit has shown its buses before and during operation on its official Facebook page and in other media. The published photographs and footage show the buses clearly, with no political stickers.
The buses bought under the Clean Sri Lanka programme do carry “Clean Sri Lanka” logo stickers, and the buses received as Japanese aid carry stickers symbolizing Japan-Sri Lanka friendship. Apart from these, the footage we examined showed no political party stickers. Further visuals confirm this here, here and here.
Passengers who travelled on Metro buses also shared their experiences and footage on social media. We examined these photos and videos and found no such stickers on the buses either. YouTube
A visual comparison shows the stickers in the post were digitally added
Below is a comparison between a real Metro bus and the photo in the social media post. It shows that the photo in the post was edited to add the stickers.
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Conclusion:
Our fact-check found both claims false. Cabinet media releases, Ministry of Transport documents, the Japanese Embassy’s statement, and our inquiries with the LMT chairman and the Transport Minister’s coordinating secretary show that the buses were bought with state funds. The chairman said Dhammika Perera and his institutions had no involvement. We found no official record or public report that names Perera as a shareholder in LMT or in the supplier, Indra Traders (Pvt) Ltd, which is run by the Silva family.
Indra Traders supplied 104 buses under an agreement signed with the Ministry of Transport on May 18, 2026. This was government procurement, not PPP, and the “Pvt Ltd” in the company name does not mean private ownership. The chairman said LMT owns 122 buses: 104 from the procurement deal, 10 under the Clean Sri Lanka programme and 8 donated by Japan. Because we did not review Registrar of Companies records, we do not state exact shareholding percentages.
The claim that Metro buses carry “Rata Anurata” stickers is also false. Neither official nor passenger footage shows political stickers, and a visual comparison shows they were added digitally to the photo in the post.
Title: Dhammika Perera Did Not Fund Metro Buses; NPP Sticker Photo Was Edited
Written By: B.P. Hansani
Result: False
