After setting stringent riders to protect the environment, the Australian government has cleared Adani Mining’s $16.5 billion proposal to build a coal mine, among the world’s biggest, in Queensland state.
The Carmichael Coal Mine project will involve open-cut and underground mining in the north Galilee Basin, produce 60 million tonnes of coal a year, and create a 189-km-long rail line.
The Australian government said the project would produce and transport coal to power the homes of about 100 million people in India.
Welcoming the approval, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said that together with the North Galilee Basin rail and the company’s port operations at Abbot Point, the Adanis’ planned investments in Queensland will deliver more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Australia, and vital opportunities for local suppliers.
The approval follows the Adanis’ recent announcement that Korean firm Posco E&C would be the company’s rail partner for the vital 388-km-long North Galilee Basin Rail.
Value pegged at $300 billion The value of the thermal coal resources, over a 60-year period, has been pegged at $300 billion. At full production, the Adani project is estimated to add $2.97 billion to Queensland’s economy every year. Patrick Suckling, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, said in a statement on Monday that his Government’s decision to approve the signature project shows that Australia is open for business, and welcomes foreign investment. “It is good news for both India and Australia.”
“The project will drive economic growth and create more than 6,000 jobs in Australia. It will also boost India’s development by providing electricity,” he said.
However, Monday’s approval came with multiple riders from the Australian government. Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it was subject to 36 conditions.
Stringent riders “The absolute strictest of conditions have been imposed to ensure the protection of the environment, with a specific focus on the protection of groundwater,” he said in a statement.
These conditions complemented those imposed by the Queensland Government, said Hunt, adding that they would ensure the developers met the highest environmental standards and that all impacts were “avoided, mitigated or offset”. The Queensland government has set 190 conditions to protect landholders, flora, groundwater resources and air quality, and also imposed controls on dust and noise during construction and operation.
Agency reports add : The approval for the Carmichael mine has sparked protests from green groups and marine tour operators worried about carbon pollution and export of the coal from a port near the Great Barrier Reef.
Environmental activist group Greenpeace said the conditions imposed on the project would do little to protect the environment from the bigger impact of shipping through the World Heritage-listed reef and the burning of huge amounts of coal the mine will produce.
The Australian Conservation Foundation also criticised the green signal and said the approval was “bad news for water resources, wildlife and the global effort to tackle climate change”.
The project would also take billions of litres of water from underground aquifers, creating problems for farmers, and destroy part of the remaining habitat of the endangered black-throated finch, it said.
Shares of Adani Enterprises, the parent company of Adani Mining, jumped to a high of ₹438.85, before settling at ₹432.55, up 1.7 per cent over the previous day's close.