Adani gets no relaxation in royalties on Australian coal mines
29 May 2017
Adani Enterprises will have to pay entire royalties on the coal it plans to mine from the Carmichael mine project in Queenslad, Australia, the prime minister of the western state, Annastacia Palaszczuk, clarified on Saturday.
The decision, taken at a meeting of the state cabinet on Friday, clears the direction for Adani to make an investment decision, which has been delayed due to lack of clarity on government policy.
The announcement also puts to rest speculation that the Indian company would be offered concessions on royalties during the early years of coal production.
"Under this new policy, the Adani Carmichael mine will pay every cent of royalties in full," Palaszczuk said in a statement on Saturday.
"There will be no royalty holiday for the Adani Carmichael mine."
Adani said this week its board had deferred a final investment decision that had been expected by the end of May because the government had yet to sign off on a royalty regime.
Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said Adani would be allowed to defer payment of royalties provided interest was paid and a security of payment was in place.
Reports in the Australian media said Adani is also seeking a $1billion loan for a rail line linking its coal mine to a port in north Queensland.
Adani is seeking the loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) for a rail line linking its proposed Carmichael coal mine to the port of Abbot Point in north Queensland, according to ABC news.
While some members of the government agency have cited conflict of interest concerns in the consideration of the loan to Indian mining giant Adani, the Queensland government said it won't object to a loan to Adani.
Ever since its decision to invest in Australian coal mine, Adani has been battling green groups ganged against it's Carmichael project, which could be the worldf's biggest coal mine. They have argued the coal exports would stoke global warming and that the proposed port expansion for the project would damage the Great Barrier Reef.
Adani, however, has shrunk the first phase of the project to 25 million tonnes capacity from the 40 million tonnes proposed earlier and can now well go about without investing in a port.
