Prof. Barth Nnaji, the Minister of Power, said on Thursday that the repair of electricity transformers in the country would save Nigeria more than N1.5 billion.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nnaji made the disclosure at the inauguration of the manufacturing and repair transmission equipment plant of the Skipper Group in Lagos.
Nnaji said the company would save for Nigeria, the huge foreign capital spent on shipping damaged transformers abroad for repairs.
He re-emphasised the Federal Government's commitment in supporting investors in the nation’s power sector.
“We are going to support you in investing in Nigeria but you should ensure your price is affordable.
“We like to support local manufacturers in Nigeria which is part of the President's campaign towards improving the local content initiative.’’
Nnaji said the project was part of the power sector reforms of President Jonathan, adding “what we want is the quick improvement of power in Nigeria.”
“Whenever a transformer is spoilt in Nigeria, we have to ship it to India, South Africa or other country.
“But now that the repair facility is here, it becomes possible for us not to do that because it costs us lots of money.’’
The minister said the project would also develop our local content by employing Nigerians in various fields.
Nnaji said the government was planning to indigenise the equipment of the power sector in Nigeria and commended the company’s initiative in building a distribution and transmission repair plant in other of the states of the federation.
“We are at the vanguard that private sector must take the lead in power sector to ensure efficiency and in doing this we have more work force and value addition.”
He also urged more investors in power to emulate Skipper and invest in the sector.
Nnaji commended the Indian government's contribution to the Nigerian economy, stressing that the development partnership was borne out of the good Nigeria/Indian working relations.
Mr Mahesh Sachdev, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, said that the Indian government has committed about 100 million dollars in support of the Nigerian power sector.
Sachdve said that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries would soon be signed.
The High Commissioner also announced that 12 Indian companies had expressed interest in the Nigerian power privatization programme.
“We have also been engaged in supporting Nigerian power sector through professional capacity building in India under our ITEC training programme.
“India, which is 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 that Skipper, in conjunction with Bharat Heavy Electricals, had already signed an MOU with the Ministry of Power for the establishment of three 500MW coal-based power plants in Nigeria.
“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 a relevant input to the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.