Ahmedabad-based Adani group gets final approval for controversy-hit Carmichael coal mine project

Ahmedabad-based Adani group has recently got final approval for controversy-hit Carmichael coal mine project in Australia, after Queensland State authorities approved its groundwater management plan. The final approval for the Adani group’s long-delayed billion-dollar mega coal mine project came only weeks after a surprise election win of Australia’s pro-coal ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The approval potentially paves the way for half a dozen new thermal coal mines to come on line in Australia by opening up Queensland’s remote Galilee basin with rail infrastructure to the coast 320 km away at Abbot Point. Earlier, the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group got the first approval from the Queensland state government to protect the endangered black-throated finch bird population as part of its crucial environmental plan at the site of its mine project. It is set to become the largest coal mine in Australia, with approval to produce up to 60 million tonnes of coal annually, and 2.3 billion tonnes over the life of the mine.