Adani stalls, shifts funding blame
ADANI has fired back at the Queensland government, saying it is to blame, after Acting Premier Jackie Trad accused the Indian miner of stalling on funding for its controversial Carmichael coal mine.
Adani had set a March 31 deadline to secure the full $16 billion for the project but it has abandoned that date and is yet to announce a new one. It’s the second time the funding deadline has been pushed back for the Galilee Basin mine after missing the December 2017 deadline.
Ms Trad said it was “disappointing” and urged Adani to get its finances sorted out.
“We made a commitment at the past two elections that taxpayer funds would not go to this mine. We have kept that commitment,” she said in a statement. “It’s disappointing to see that Adani is once again stalling on financial close as they have done for many other milestones in the past.
“I know that there are many regional communities who want them to get on and build this project.”
But Adani claimed the Labor government’s November decision to veto a billiondollar federal government loan to fund a rail line linking the project to the Abbot Point coal terminal meant it couldn’t meet the funding milestone.
“The March deadline was set before the NAIF loan veto,” the company said yesterday.
“We remain 100 per cent committed to the Carmichael project. We are confident of securing financing.”
Australia’s big four banks have refused to contribute money for the mine, leading the company to look overseas for funding.
The Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane said “policy uncertainty” was causing international investors to be wary of investing in a coal project in Queensland.