MEA working to address IL&FS employees woes in Ethiopia

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs is working to address troubles faced by employees of IL&FS in Ethiopia following crisis arising out of non-payment of creditors and salaries in Eastern African country, a key partner of India in that region.

"#SOS We 7 employee from #ILFS are hostages by local labor/staff at in Ethiopia from last 4 days coz of nonpayment of creditors and local salaries. #ILFS denied to send fund from India. Kindly save us. Day2day situation worsening @narendramodi, @sushmaswaraj," tweeted by Neeraj Raghuwanshi of IL&FS.



Sources said that MEA is seriously looking into the matter and trying to address the issue.

In 2016, IL&FS had won a Rs 1,525 crore road contract in Ethiopia. IL&FS won a long-term contract for completing multiple road projects in Ethiopia for a period of 8 years.

Raghuwanshi has also posted a screenshot of an email that pleads for assistance, urging that the “local administrations (will) put us behind the bars or may local staff will kill us because of the company’s fault”.

India is among top three foreign investors in Ethiopia and Ethiopia is recipient of $1 bn concessional loan from Delhi, highest outside the subcontinent.