Sri Lanka's higher education ministry secretary Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne said 'free zones' for education will be set up in Gampaha, Puttalam, Kilinochchi, Hambantota and Trincomalee.
Investors who can draw reputed international universities will be given 100 acres of land where they can build campuses with all facilities for students including sports and resident facilities.
"We are considering a budget proposal in this regard," Nawaratne said.
Rohan Samarajiva, head of LirneAsia, a think tank said a key cost barrier for private universities was the initial capital expenditure in land and buildings, which made fees charged from student very high.
Running costs could be found through fees, which were not very prohibitive, he said in an LBR-LBO CEO forum.
Sri Lankans lost the opportunity for higher education freedoms after degree awarding was made a state monopoly, in the style of restrictions imposed on the people by the Dutch East India Company, critics say.
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