"Coovardia said the company was also assessing investing in some local power stations and setting up a pipeline from Kwekwe River to meet its phase one..."
Essar Africa Holdings which acquired a 54% stake in Ziscosteel from the Zimbabwe government says it would require $436 million to operationalise the steel maker.
Firdhose Coovardia,Essar chief executive for Africa and the Asia-Pacific regions said the amount, which excludes all liabilities, covers refurbishing and plant upgrading as well as running the project from phase one and phase two.
He however said the Zimbabwe government was still to meet a number of its conditions set when it acquired the company in a $750 million deal, with only guaranteed power and water supplies having only been secured.
Coovardia said the company was also assessing investing in some local power stations and setting up a pipeline from Kwekwe River to meet its phase one water demands.