4 Indian firms pre-qualify for Byo power station upgrade tender

By Oliver Kazunga

Four companies in India have pre-qualified for the tender to upgrade the Bulawayo Thermal Power Station.

Last year, the Government announced it had secured $87 million lines of credit from India for the rehabilitation of Bulawayo Thermal Power Station.

In an interview on the sidelines of the just-ended CBZ International SME indaba in Bulawayo last week, India Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rungsung Masakui said: “Regarding the status of the tender in India, it has been announced and it is in the bidding process with four companies from India having pre-qualified.

The $87 million which would be disbursed through India Export and Import Bank (India EximBank) was approved in 2015 during President Mugabe’s working visit to that country.

Energy and Power Development Minister Dr Samuel Undenge said ZPC would soon float a tender to select a local company that would work with the Indian counterpart on the project.

Since the funding for Bulawayo Power Station was coming from India, the financier requires that a company from that country leads out in construction of the project.

Rehabilitation of the Bulawayo Power Station among other activities includes replacing old boilers that use outdated technology with state-of- the-art boilers.

The India EximBank line of credit has tenure of 13 years, a grace period of three years and a repayment period of 10 years at two percent interest rate per annum.

Bulawayo Power Station was built in 1957 and has an installed capacity of 120 megawatts. As of last Friday, the Bulawayo plant was not generating anything.

The Government has also prioritised the rehabilitation of Harare and Munyati Thermal Power Stations and was in the process of scouting for potential financiers. The Chronicle