Multinational conglomerate Adani Group on Monday announced it had cancelled its plans with contractor Downer EDI Ltd to help develop and run its coal mine in Carmichael in Australia’s Queensland province, Reuters reported.
The Gautam Adani-led company blamed the Queensland government’s decision to not provide it with a tax payer-funded loan for the $13-billion (Rs 83,440 crore) project. The company said it would run the mine itself, The Guardian reported. “Following on from the Naif [Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility] veto last week, and in line with its vision to achieve the lowest quartile cost of production by ensuring flexibility and efficiencies in the supply chain, Adani has decided to develop and operate the mine on an owner-operator basis,” the company said.
The company has failed to find Australian and international banks, including three Chinese state lenders, to back the much-criticised project. The project will now come under more scrutiny as Downer along with Thiess, another mine contractor, is capable of handling an operation producing up to 60 million tonnes of coal a year, ABC Australia reported.
Over the past few months, Downer was urged by a nationwide activist campaign to quit the Carmichael project. Environmental activists claim that the project, which would become Australia’s largest coal mine, will damage the Great Barrier Reef and increase global warming. In October, the Stop Adani alliance, which includes more than 30 groups, organised demonstrations across Australia. Protestors formed human signs that said “#STOP ADANI” at beaches and prominent locations.
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