The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said the Federal Government had concluded plans to explore ways of implementing the Indian power sector model in Nigeria to transforming the sector.
Nebo made this known when he received a delegation on power from India in Abujan on Monday.
He said the ministry would soon summon a stakeholders’ forum of all Generating Companies (GENCOs), Distribution Companies (DISCOs), and the regulatory bodies to take a closer look at the Indian model.
The minister said that the Nigerian power sector which was still in a transitional stage after the privatisation still had a lot to learn from the Indian experience.
According to him, this is because of the peculiarity between both nations’ power sector.
He said when the idea comes to fruition, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company plc., which was conceived as a stop-gap agency might be transformed into a permanent arrangement.
He said it would be under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Nebo also invited the Indian delegation to the first National Council on Power conference slated for August 2014 in order to have a robust discussion.
The minister assured the delegation that the Federal Government was committed to achieving 10,000mw by the end of the year despite the challenges.
The Chief Executive Officer of Eko Disco, Mr Oladele Amoda, who spoke on behalf of the DISCOS, said the company had already had a technical arrangement with Tata of India.
Amodu urged the India delegation to take seriously the issue of transfer of technology so as to fast track the development of the sector.
Earlier, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Ajjampur Ghenashyam, said Nigeria as the hub of economic activities in the sub-region should take the lead in the development of regional power market.
Ghenashyam said India had achieved over 400 per cent leap in generation capacity in the last 10 years due to the competitiveness of the market.
He said that countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan, had already been enjoying from seamless cross border market and this had further boosted confidence for investment flow into the sector.
The envoy said that India was ready to partner with Nigeria in the development of the nation’s power sector. (NAN)
