Adani presses ahead with controversial coal mine in Australia by self-financing

Indian energy giant Adani announced on Thursday that it will self-finance its controversial coal mine in Australia and major works on the "scaled back" project will start "imminently after eight years of court challenges from environmental activists and delayed approvals.

Adani Mining chief executive officer Lucas Dow said the Carmichael mine in Queensland would initially begin on a small scale and "ramp up" to a capacity of 27.5 million tonnes a year less than half the size of the approved project.

"We have finance and we are ready to start," Dow said.

"Adani Mining's Carmichael mine and rail project will be 100 per cent financed through the Adani Group's resources," he said.

"We will now begin developing a smaller open-cut mine comparable to many other Queensland coal mines and will ramp up production over time."