The Tanzanian government is in the process of selecting investors to develop its Mchuchuma coal project and build a 400 megawatt power plant, the state-run National Development Corp. said Thursday.

In a statement, NDC said a 200-kilometer high voltage power lines would also be constructed linking Mchuchuma, in the south western region, with the national grid.

Tanzania is in the process of connecting its vast gold mines located around Lake Victoria to the national grid.

Up to 48 foreign and local companies have expressed interest to develop the Mchuchuma project, which has up to 125.3 million metric tons of coal deposits, and the winner will be announced before the end of the third quarter.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development the companies that have expressed an interest include Singapore-based Nava Bharat, which won a bid to acquire Zambia's largest coal mine Maamba Collieries early this year. Others include diversified miners BHP Billiton PLC (BHP.LN) and Rio Tinto PLC (RTP), Australia-based Western Metals Corp. (WTLC), India's Tata Steel Co. (500470.BY) and China's CAMC Engineering.

Development of the Mchuchuma coal project is expected to cost up to $660 million and a power plant would be completed three to four years after the start of construction work.

Analysts say Tanzania needs more power plants to meet rising demand occasioned by massive investment in the gold mining sector since the start of the decade. Most gold mines still rely on fuel-fired plants to run operations because they aren't connected to the national grid.

Tanzania is Africa's third largest gold producer.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +256 75 262 4615; bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk