Adani coal project ‘almost locked in’
The son of Adani’s boss has expressed confidence it will secure the final funding needed for its vast coal project in Queensland.
Karan Adani, the son of Adani boss and Indian billionaire Gautam, has expressed confidence the mining company will secure the final funding needed for its vast coal project in central Queensland.
In an interview with India’s The Economic Times yesterday, Mr Adani said the company was close to securing the final $1.35 billion needed to finance the rail line.
“We have all the government approvals for everything,” he said. “For the rail, mine and the boat we have all the government approvals. We have completed the financing of the mine, the port is already operational and now we’re just closing on the financing of the rail … I think that project is about $US1bn ($1.35bn).”
But despite Mr Adani’s confidence the project still faces major hurdles, with a groundwater issue still awaiting a decision from the federal government.
In the lead-up to the state election last year, the project was dealt a major blow when Labor promised to veto Adani’s application for a loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, which would have helped finance the rail element of the project. Australian banks also publicly refused to finance the project due to climate-change concerns. Adani has estimated its project will create 10,000 jobs over time, but this number could swell to 13,000 jobs should the rail link be added.