H.E. Udaya Gammanpila

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Minister of Energy

Udaya Gammanpila has been the Minister of Energy in Sri Lanka for 6 months now and is responsible for the country’s petroleum portfolio, the country’s largest budget line item. A passionate environmentalist and technocrat, his career encompassed the private sector, public service, and active politics, a giving him a broad perspective that earned him the role of Joint Cabinet Spokesperson in the new Government. Having achieved island-wide first place in Sri Lanka’s University entrance examinations, Mr Gammanpila was awarded a scholarship by the Australian government to read a degree in Computer Science at Monash University in 1988. Upon his return to Sri Lanka in 1994, he joined the Australia-Lanka Group, where he quickly rose to become one of the youngest CEOs in Sri Lanka. He then entered Sri Lanka’s Law College and was sworn in as an Attorney at Law in 2003, after which he was appointed Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority in 2007. It was in this role that he first reviewed the offshore oil and gas exploration initiative in Sri Lanka, a subject that has now come under his direct purview. In parallel, driving the sustainability agenda hard, his pioneering Pilisaru Waste Management and Plastic Waste Recycling projects have received acclaim by both scholars and the public. Mr. Gammanpila was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Industries & Environment of the Western Province in 2009 and Minister of Religious Affairs in 2018.