India’s Adani Group will proceed with its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia’s Queensland state after its board approved a final investment decision on the development.

After delaying a decision due to uncertainty over royalty payments, Adani said Tuesday it will start pre-construction works in the July-September quarter on the project, which will eventually create over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

"We have been challenged by activists in the courts, in inner city streets, and even outside banks that have not even been approached to finance the project," Chairman Gautam Adani said in a press release. “We are still facing activists. But we are committed to this project."

Adani, which said it already invested $3.3 billion in the project with the purchase of a bulk handling terminal at Abbot Point, has faced opposition over concern that Australia’s largest coal project will increase carbon pollution and risk damage to the Great Barrier Reef marine park in northern Queensland. The billionaire chairman of Adani said in March it could start mining coal from Carmichael in 2020.

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Perry Williams

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