Cross River seals pact with ESSAR on power plant

THE Cross River State government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an Indian company, ESSAR African Holdings Limited, the establishment of a 600 mega watts power plant in Calabar.

The Special Adviser, Investment Promotion, Gerald Adah at the weekend signed on behalf of the state, while the Senior Vice President, Business Development, Inder Kapoor signed on behalf of the company.

The Deputy Governor, Efiok Cobham, speaking after the ceremony, appreciated the company for finding it convenient to invest in the state and hoped that the relationship between the two countries will grow stronger with the realisation of the power plant.

According to Cobham, the plant will boost economic activities in the state as well complement the Power Holding Company (PHC) in supplying electricity to the populace because power is the greatest challenge of the state and nation, adding that with the coming of ESSAR the people will be seeing light in the other end of the tunnel.

The deputy governor said the sitting of the project in Cross River State will strengthen the cordial relationship between India and the State as he looked forward to seeing the company take off soon as the state is equally working hard to have its power plant, stating that the state is the most investor friendly in Nigeria and called on the company to explore other areas where they can invest in the state.

He said government would do everything to ensure that the company’s mission of investing in the state is realised, adding that they took the decision of investing after appraising their feasibility study and hoped the ground- breaking ceremony will take place in no distant future.

The Senior Vice President Business Development, Inder Kapoor, said Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa, where they have investments especially in gas and oil, explaining that they are a major power generating company and that Cross River is the first state they intend to build their power plant.

Kapoor explained that the decision to invest in the state was based on the feasibility study they conducted and they found out that Cross River State has more advantages for them, adding that they will work according to the guidelines and approval of PHC.

The Special Adviser on Investment Promotion, Mr. Gerald Addah, said the 600 megawatts power plant will be constructed in two phases of 300 mega watts each and that construction is expected to commence within one year.

Addah disclosed that the process of acquiring 35 hectares of land for the plant has been completed while the guidelines by Power Holding Company of Nigeria on private companies that want to set up power plants have been met.