India's Adani Enterprises to finalise on their Australian coal project by June

In a recent update, India's Adani Enterprises said it would finalise the investment decision for its Carmichael coal project in Australia by June. The project has been delayed for last five years due to protests from environmental groups. The proposed mine in the northern state of Queensland is expected to export coal to India. The environmentalists felt that the project will require a mega-port expansion into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area to export the huge amount of coal to India.

Gautam Adani, chairman of the company said that he expected the project to materialize and the board would take a final decision on investments in May or June, including structure and planned funding.

Adani said during an interaction with media that their “internal planning is 2020…(for) first coal to come out." He also added that the construction of the mine could begin within three months of the board's decision.

Adani said the company is targeting an annual output of 25 million tonnes of coal in the first phase and the production will be expanded to the planned 40 million tonnes eventually.

He also added that the project has secured most major state and federal government approvals barring a few court challenges.  Sourcing funds were also not easy due to the controversial nature of the project.

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The company has already invested $3.3 billion in the project and will have to raise about $2.5 billion in debt, he added. Adani is hoping to finance the project with funding from Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility, export credit agencies in China or South Korea.

Queensland premier Anastasia Palaszczuk, who was in India to visit Adani's port and solar facilities said that Carmichael project had support of her government and that she is optimistic about Adani securing final approval from Australia.