Zimbabwe Cabinet Approves Jindal’s Proposal to Rehabilitate Hwange Power Plant

During post-cabinet briefing of 16 September 2025, Zimbabwean Minister of Information Jenfan Muswere announced that the Cabinet has approved the rehabilitation works at Hwange Power Plant by Indian company Jindal under a Public-Private Partnership (#PPP). Under the PPP, Jindal will refurbish, operate and transfer units 1 to 6 of the Hwange coal-fired thermal power plant.

It is to be recalled that in 2020, the India EXIM Bank had already extended a line of credit of USD 310 million to the Government of Zimbabwe for the Hwange Project but financial close experienced delays. In order to push the project forward, Chairman Naveen Jindal visited Zimbabwe in 2024. Now, Jindal has agreed to mobilize USD 455 million for the rehabilitation project.

Certain modalities remain to be clarified before the signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Jindal. Based on the Gantt Chart presented by Jindal, Zimbabwean Energy Minister July Moyo believes that Jindal can complete the works in four years. Once operational, Jindal will sell the electricity to ZPC for a 15-year term. Minister Moyo also pointed out that with each unit having a capacity of 300 MW, the project will add 1,800 MW of reliable and affordable power to the grid.

In 2023, China Power completed units 7 & 8 at Hwange. For that component, the China EXIM Bank provided a loan of USD one billion. At that time, the India EXIM Bank had also financed a 40-km water pipeline to the tune of USD 48 million In total, debt servicing for Hwange stands at USD 35 million per year.