Chinese lenders lead team to finance Indian coal power plant in Zambia

(Reuters, Singapore, 5 August 2015) Chinese banks are leading a group of lenders in financing a 300 MW coal-fired power plant in Zambia that is needed to meet rising demand from miners and an electricity-starved public... The new power plant is part of an $828 million project that includes revamping Zambia's biggest coal mine and aims to tackle power shortages that are curbing copper mining operations... The plant - to be commissioned by mid-2016 - is being constructed by Chinese companies... Nava Bharat Ventures, an Indian company holds a 65 percent stake in the project... China has pledged some $30 billion in credit lines to Africa over the last two years. It was the biggest foreign investor into infrastructure projects in Africa in 2013, with state export banks leading investments worth $13.4 billion, data from the African Development Bank showed.