Green activists gun for Gautam Adani's Australia coal and port project

India's coal king Gautam Adani is facing a fresh challenge from green activists for its mega Australian coal and port project. The project, which recently drew public attention after the State Bank of India (SBI) signed an initial deal with Adani for a $1 billion debt, had courted several controversies from the start.

Avaaz, a global campaign network, has promised to build public opinion against the project through a massive signature campaign and force SBI to back out. Adani Enterprises, India's largest coal importer, had bought the Abbot Point Terminal in Queensland–one of the country's bigger coal terminals–for about $2 billion in May 2011 in an attempt to increase its access to more energy resources to meet rising demand for power in India.

Though the project is likely to unlock huge coal reserves worth billions of dollars, the process may require millions of tonnes of sediment to be dumped near the delicate Great Barrier Reef, potentially endangering the world heritage-listed site.

Great Barrier Reef, according to Wikipedia, is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres.

"Adani is asking our biggest public sector bank for a loan of Rs 6,000 crore to turn one of the world's ecological treasures into a major coal shipping lane. But if we act fast, we can block this dirty deal and keep the Great Barrier Reef safe," said Danny Auron of Avaaz.

"Public pressure has changed other banks' minds, so let's turn the heat on the SBI," he said, in a letter addressed to the Indian public. According to Avaaz, the wild coal rush that Adani's project symbolizes is toxic for the planet. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, and to get the coal to India, Adani would need to expand a shipping lane right through the Reef – the largest living organism on Earth and home to thousands of protected species.
"To make matters worse, after international lenders like Citigroup and Deutsche Bank shunned the project, Adani has turned to state-owned SBI hoping for a sweet deal," said Auron.
A few months ago, Deutsche Bank had refused to fund Adani' plans in Australia. Juergen Fitschen, Deutsche Bank's co-chief executive, had told shareholders that the bank would not be involved in the Abbot Point project, which the world heritage agency UNESCO has warned risks damaging the fragile ecosystem of the reef, according to a report in the Financial Times.
"There is no consensus between UNESCO and the Australian government regarding the expansion of Abbot Point in the vicinity of the Great Barrier Reef. Our policy requires such a consensus at the least. We therefore would not consider applications for the financing of an expansion any further," the FT reported quoting Fitschen.
The decision by Deutsche Bank, which has previously arranged financing for companies at Abbot Point port, came after a concerted campaign by environmental activists.
Auron claimed the project puts the Reef in danger according to UNESCO, and eight leading international banks have backed away.
"The coal minister recently announced that India should be able to phase out coal imports in the next three years, long before the Australian mine is ever completed. On the other, India's banking regulator has slammed `crony capitalism' for killing India's economic growth. If we come together now, we can show SBI's board that we don't want our money backing this loan," he said.