Tuesday, 12 June 2012 00:00

Written by Charles Okonji

Power sector, last week, received a boost as Indian firm said it  would commit $100million line of  credit to support the nation’s power sector. While the agreement between the two countries is expected to be signed soon, the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria,Mr Mahesh Sachdev, announced that 12 big Indian companies had expressed interest in the Nigerian power privatisation programme.

He said:”We have also been engaged in supporting Nigerian power sector through professional capacity building in India under our ITEC training programme. India, Nigeria’s second largest trading partner, has both the capacity and expertise to support Nigeria’s ambitious development plans in the power sector.”
He said the Skipper Group had, over the years, invested in the country to create manufacturing, repair capacity, transfer of technology and generate employment, adding that the Indian company had shown faith in Nigeria’s power sector..

According to him, the company, in conjunction with Bharat Heavy Electricals, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Power in November 2009 for putting up three 500 megawatts of coal-based power plants in Nigeria.
Sachdev added: “Thus this state-of-the-art plant is not only first of its kind in Africa,but it is  potent symbol of an Indian company’s commitment to Nigerian power sector. This inauguration can also be seen as relevant input to the transformational agenda of the Nigerian President,His Excellency, Dr.Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in which power occupies a pride of place”

The Power Minister, Prof. Barth Nnaji, also speaking, said the location  of the plant in Nigeria by the firm was a manifestation of the confidence it reposed in the country’s power sector, noting that the present administration was doing its possible best to bring more investors into the sector with a view to making it viable and delivering efficient and uninterrupted power in line with its aspiration in the sector.
He also said the government was also committed to encouraging power manufacturing and repair companies in the country.

Chairman of Skipper Group, Shri Jitender Sachdeva, reiterated his company’s belief in the country’s power sector, adding that Skipper intended to expand its operation from transmission to power generation and other areas of economic activity in the country.
According to him, Nigeria could save N1.5 billion from repairing transformers in-country than shipping them abroad.