In December 2017, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) planned to lend US$120 million for a desalination plant serving the Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka. The funds topped up the Jaffna and Kilinochchi water scheme, which the ADB had already backed with US$90 million in 2010. Plans covered a 24,000 m³/day plant, 700 km of pipes and 60,000 metered household connections for 300,000 people. Total cost was estimated at US$266 million, with completion expected by 2025.
The report showed how desalination could become the fallback when plans based on reservoir water stalled, and how development banks financed such schemes.