The Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Alhaji Abubakar Bwari, said that the power would be generated because Nigeria had more than 2.7 billion tonnes of coal deposits.
“Nigerian coal reserves are estimated at over 2.7 billion tonnes out of which about 650 million tonnes are proven,” the minister said on Sunday.
He said that available data suggested that there were coal deposits in more than 22 coal fields in 16 states of the federation.
According to him, a project delivery team has been inaugurated for the concession of the remaining five coal blocks of the Nigerian Coal Corporation and that this will be done through a competitive bidding process.
On the Ease of Doing Business in the mining sector, Bwari said that the ministry had taken appropriate steps to improve Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank Ease-of-Doing-Business Index.
“In line with the Federal Government’s focus on making it easier to do business in the sector, we have continued to address issues towards achieving a decent ranking in the Fraser’s Investment Attractiveness Index,” he said.