By KUNLE KALEJAYE
About N1.4 billion has been  saved  from repairing damaged transformers in the country, the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji has said.

The minister made this assertion while inaugurating the GTA Engineering Nigeria Power Transformer Repair Facility in Lagos.

“When the big transformers broke down in the past, we had to ship them to Indian or South Africa for repair. But now with this kind of facility in place, it has become possible for us not to do that kind of shipment because it is costing us money and time; it is now possible for the repairs to be done here,” he said.

Highlighting the benefits of setting up a transformer repair centre, the Minister said that local employment will be created by employing Nigerians in the technical field and other kind of skilled personnel needed to repair transformers in the country and within the GTA facility.

According to him, “This initiative is in line with power sector reform that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is currently executing in the country,” adding that the President want quick improvement of power supply in the country and also to indigenise the production of equipment that will support the power sector.

Speaking at the inauguration, the India High Commissioner of to Nigeria, Mr. Mahesh Sachdev, said Indian has committed $100million line of credit to support Nigeria’s Power sector, which he hoped will be signed shortly.

“We have also been engaged in supporting Nigeria’s power sector through professional capacity building in India under ITEC training programme,” he said.

With this kind of facility, Nnaji said that the power industry will grow and become bigger which is the only way to satisfy the market and create employment in the process.