India's energy manufacturing giant Adani Group will soon begin work on a 388-kilometre rail link, which is an integral part of its proposed Rs 1.07-lakh crore ($16.5-billion) Carmichael coal mine project in Australia.
"We will break ground in the next few days to mark the official start of work on the rail line that will help carry coal to the Abbot Point port for export. We remain confident and committed to deliver first coal in March 2020," Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj told BusinessLine over phone from Australia.
Recently several protests were staged in different parts of Australia against Adani Enterprises' proposed Carmichael coal mine in Central Queensland.
The demonstrations were organised by the Stop Adani Alliance, which includes more than 40 groups. The alliance on their website said: "Adani is pulling out all the tricks to build its mega coal mine that will trash indigenous rights, wreck the climate and prop up a boom-bust economy."
It is over seven years now that the coal mining projects have been stalled by the environment, conservationist and indigenous groups over concerns on global warming and damaging the ecology of Great Barrier Reef.
The project was caught in several controversies from environmental to financial issues. After major banks and Queensland government refused funds, Adani Group in August said that the company intends to start work on its Carmichael coal project from October this year using its own funds.
Adani's Australia subsidiary CEO Janakaraj said the project has been complied with Australian environment laws, including many stringent conditions set by the authorities. He added that green activists who are a part of the governance system in Australia assisted the ruling and the opposition parties to write the law, reported BusinessLine.
It is expected that the project would generate around 10,000 jobs in Queensland. However, the green campaigners question the viability of the Group's financial ability to develop the coal mine.
To counter their claims, Janakaraj told the business daily that Adani mining is fully funded by shareholder/ associate company money and there is no third party or bank debt that has funded the development of the mine till now.
