Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – India’s Adani has denied that it no longer needs a A$900-million loan from the North Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) for its rail link associated with its Carmichael coal mine.
Spokesperson Ron Watson said on Wednesday that Adani had held meetings with a wide range of financiers for the Carmichael mine and associated infrastructure, but that it did not negate the need for support from the federal and state governments.
“The purpose of NAIF is to provide for economic infrastructure and every cent of this loan will be repaid with interest. The infrastructure Adani is building will be common user infrastructure and will be able to be used by other projects creating opportunities for further jobs and investment,” he said.
Watson’s statement is in response to an ABC report, which cited an unnamed Adani director as saying that the company is close to securing a deal with Chinese groups to fund the mine and rail infrastructure. The report states that Adani, thus, will not need the NAIF loan anymore.
Adani's planned A$16.5-billion project in north-east Australia has been delayed for years as opposition from environmental groups led banks to steer clear of funding what would be the biggest coal mine in the country.
The project has become a subject of contention in the weekend elections in Queensland, where the Labor government has said it will reject the A$900-million federal funding for the rail project, while the opposition Liberal National Party has said that denying the funding will threaten the viability of the project.