Adani Enterprises will fully fund its controversial Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Australia, Adani Mining Chief Executive Lucas Dow said on Thursday, according to a statement from the group.
Adani Enterprises will fully fund its controversial Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Australia, Adani Mining Chief Executive Lucas Dow said on Thursday, according to a statement from the group.
Construction and operation of the mine will now begin, Dow said.
This follows years of delays amid opposition from environmental groups who argue the mine will contribute to global warming and damage the Great Barrier Reef, leading to some banks ruling out taking any role in funding the project.
Earlier in June, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani gave the final investment approval for the Indian conglomerate's controversy-hit 21.7 billion dollars coal mine project in Australia which had hit several roadblocks over environmental concerns.
The Carmichael project has been facing opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The Indian energy giant has for more than five years battled the opposition to any expansion of the Abbot Point port, saying it will cut into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The mine’s location 400 kms (250 miles) from a Pacific Ocean shipping terminal means the challenge of financing infrastructure costs has been at the forefront of debate over the project’s economic viability.
The project relies on a A$900 million concessional loan to help Adani build a rail line linking the mine with a shipping port. The government is assessing whether to give Adani the loan through its Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility program aimed at encouraging economic development in rural regions.
Preivously, speaking at a rally against the mine, the former leader of Australia’s Greens Party, Bob Brown, called on the federal government to rule out a loan deemed crucial to the project and lashed out at the “heightened arrogance” of the company for signalling it had secured that loan.
Brown likened this campaign against the project to one he led in Tasmania in the 1980s that stopped a hydroelectricity project and saw the area instead listed as UNESCO World Heritage. That Franklin Dam campaign is regarded as one of the most significant environmental campaigns in Australian history.
Banks including Deutsche Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia have publicly said they will not provide funding for the Carmichael project.
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 "Adani Group to fully fund troubled Carmichael coal mine")
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