Queensland Premier reaffirms commitment to Adani's coal mine project

Move follows Australian team's visit to Adani HQ, urging it to drop project near Great Barrier Reef

After an Australian delegation visited the Adani Group headquarters here in Ahmedabad on Thursday, urging the Group to drop their the Carmichael coal mine project near the Great Barrier Reef, the Premier of Queensland today reaffirmed the government's commitment to the $16.5 billion project.

Adani said in a statement that the group hosted a high level delegation led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland, Australia at Mundra Port on Friday who reaffirmed Queensland government's commitment to the $16.5 billion Carmichael mine project.

Last year, the Queensland state's department of environment and heritage protection (EHP) issued a final environmental authority (EA) for Adani's Carmichael Mine project in the Galilee Basin.

"The EA application was vigorously assessed by the department and acted on recommendations made by the land court. Adani group is confident of fulfilling the strict conditions placed on the EA, including extra requirements based on the land court's recommendations and ensure this mine will not pose an unacceptable risk to the environment," Adani said here.

Earlier in the day, the delegation visited Mundra Port. They are scheduled to visit Kamuthi in Tamil Nadu to see the world's largest solar project which generates 648 megawatts of green electricity.

Queensland premier Palaszczuk said after the visit, "Indians are a great community in Australia and the Indo-Australian relations are growing from strength to strength. The Australian Prime Minister will also be visiting India shortly and that shows the significance of the relationship. My visit here shows that Queensland supports the Adani project for its potential to create many jobs for regional Queensland and will also help boost the Indian economy."

Queensland will also be part of the solar project of Adani. The Group ventured into Australi in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael Coal Mine in the Galilee Basin, Central Queensland, and the Port of Abbot Point near Bowen in North Queensland.

"Our mining project will create economic prosperity and creation of thousands of jobs for the people of regional Queensland. The Carmichael mine will help bring energy security to millions of Indians who do not have access to electricity," said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group.

The project involves construction of a near-400 km rail line from the Carmichael mine site to the Adani owned and operated bulk coal-loading facility at Abbott Point near Bowen. Adani's plan is to operate a vertically integrated model - with the extraction of coal from its Carmichael Mine, transported by rail to Abbot Point, and exported to meet consumer and business demands in offshore markets.

"Adani will use mining support services from Mackay-Bowen region, Rockhampton and Townsville have been shortlisted by Adani as a Fly In Fly Out hub. The Mackay-Bowen region will also provide Adani with port services, as well as become the HQ for Adani's rail and port operations." said Jeyakumar Janakaraj, CEO, Adani Australia.

The project will build Australia's largest thermal coal mine in the north Galilee Basin approximately 160 km north-west of Clermont in Central Queensland, linked by a standard gauge North Galilee Basin Rail Line to two terminals at Abbot Point Port near Bowen.

Over the 60-year life of the mine, this major infrastructure will not only support Adani's operations, the railway line and port, but will also provide infrastructure for the development of other proposed mines, extending the mining boom and allowing more jobs to be generated now and into the future.

The project will generate around $22 billion in state mining taxes and royalties in just the first half of the project life, Adani statement said here.