Lotus Tower

The Lotus Tower (Sinhala: නෙළුම් කුළුණ, romanized: Nelum Kuluna; Tamil: தாமரைக் கோபுரம், romanized: Tāmaraik Kōpuram), also known as the Colombo Lotus Tower, stands at a height of 351.5 meters (1,153 feet) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Initially, the tower was proposed to be built in Peliyagoda, but the Government of Sri Lanka later decided to change the location.

With the witness of the President of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry, the Presidents of China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC) and Aerospace Long March International Trade Co. Ltd (ALIT) signed the contract with the Director-General of TRCSL, Anusha Palpita, for the project on 3 January 2012.

[7] This project coordinate by Sri Lankan government the construction began on 20 January 2012 following a foundation stone-laying ceremony.

It functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna ISDB-T and proposed DVB-T2 support structure for 50 television services, 35 FM radio stations and 20 telecommunication service providers,[11] and will house a variety of tourist attractions [citation needed].

[13][14][15] The Colombo Monorail, which was a proposed monorail system in Colombo, and the BRT system were to converge at a common 'multi-modal hub' located in close proximity to the Lotus Tower, making the tower a major city center.

During the opening ceremony, which was held on 16 September 2019, President Maithripala Sirisena at a ceremonial speech mentioned and claimed an allegation on a scam regarding an advance of 2 billion rupees which was given to an approved company ALIT in 2012 by the then government, was later revealed in 2016 that such a company did not exist.

Lotus Tower under construction
Lotus Tower as seen in 2018
Lotus Tower, as compared to some of the tallest towers around the world