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Australia govt booster for Adani coal project

Australia on Wednesday said the Adani Group's $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine and port project in Queensland was important for bilateral relations and the federal government was looking forward to "going (ahead) with it".

"All the commonwealth approvals have been granted. There are some state approvals, which are awaiting conclusion. The state government, the federal government and the federal Opposition all support the project," Australia's minister for resources and energy Josh Frydenberg said after concluding bilateral energy dialogue with power, coal and renewable energy minister Piyush Goyal.

Frydenberg's statement would come as a shot in the arm for the project, which has suffered delays on account of opposition from green activists and litigations. The project received final environmental clearance -- with strict conditions -- from the Queensland provincial government last week but a mining lease is still awaited.

"This is a project which will create thousands of jobs, (is) worth billions of dollars in investment and importantly, will provide energy and electricity to 100 million Indians," Frydenberg said. On his part, Goyal said the project was among several commercial ventures that were stressed on both sides.

"We discussed so many projects, there are so many projects in India that are facing some kind of stress becuase of some problem with state government, mining lease not available. Some places land is an issue, some cases have gone into arbritation. So both sides have issues where their commercial interests was stressed in the other country we have agreed that we should look at all such projects in a manner that we can resolve these issues," Goyal said.

Source: TOI