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Business News/ Industry / Energy/  National Australia Bank rules out funding for Adani’s Carmichael project
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National Australia Bank rules out funding for Adani’s Carmichael project

A news report also says that Adani Group had not approached NAB and the bank had not done due diligence on the coal project

Over 10 international banks, including Adani’s former chief financier for Carmichael, Standard Chartered, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, have said that they have withdrawn from Carmichael project.Premium
Over 10 international banks, including Adani’s former chief financier for Carmichael, Standard Chartered, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, have said that they have withdrawn from Carmichael project.

Mumbai: National Australia Bank (NAB) has ruled out funding for Adani Group’s $12 billion mining project in the Galilee Basin of Queensland.

On Wednesday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that NAB was not involved and has no plans to be involved in any financing of the Carmichael coal mine, citing the bank’s spokesperson.

The report also said that Adani Group had not approached NAB and the bank had not done due diligence on the coal project.

Over 10 international banks, including Adani’s former chief financier for Carmichael, Standard Chartered, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, have said that they have withdrawn from Carmichael project.

On 12 August, Mint reported that Australia’s indigenous people Wangan and Jagalingou, traditional owners of the land proposed to host Adani Group’s mining project, will meet three top banks in their country to request them not to finance the Carmichael project.

The Wangan and Jagalingou were calling on the remaining three of Australia’s big four banks—NAB, Westpac Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ)—which have not ruled out funding, to confirm they will not support the Carmichael coal mine with finance.

The Wangan and Jagalingou are traditional owners and native title applicants of a vast area of land in central-western Queensland, according to their website.

Adani initiated the Carmichael coal project in 2010 with plans to develop a coal mine and a rail link with Abbot Point port, but the project soon ran into opposition from environmentalists.

Last month, overturning environment permissions for the mine, the federal court of Australia said environment minister Greg Hunt had “ignored his own department’s advice about the mine’s impact on two vulnerable species, the yakka skink and the ornamental snake."

The yakka skink is a lizard seen mostly in Queensland.

“Our council is deeply heartened that NAB has today ruled out any involvement, now or in the future, in financing this disastrous project. Today, NAB has acted with moral authority and in accordance with the principles of corporate social responsibility to which it is signatory. Its decision brings this disastrous project one step closer to its demise," lead spokesperson for Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Family Council, Adrian Burragubba, said.

“NAB’s announcement comes one day after we meet with senior officials and the indigenous program leader from the bank. It was clear in our meeting that this corporate giant has a meaningful grasp of the fact that the Wangan and Jagalingou Council oppose Carmichael, and that, crucially, the project does not have the free, prior and informed consent of our people. The bank had clearly done its due diligence. It understood that we have rejected a land use agreement with Adani for the mine, and that no means no," Burragubba said.

The Wangan and Jagalingou Council are calling on the remaining two of Australia’s big four banks—Westpac and ANZ—which have not ruled out funding, to confirm without delay they will not support the Carmichael coal mine with finance, the traditional owners said in a statement on Wednesday.

Adani Group spokesperson declined to comment.

In a separate news report, The Sydney News Herald on Wednesday also reported that Adani Mining has lost one of its two big external customers with Korean giant LG confirming it would not be purchasing coal from the Carmichael mine.

The Australian newspaper quoted an LG statement as saying: “The LOI (letter of intent) concluded by and between LG International Corp and Adani Mining Pty Ltd was non-binding and is invalid as of July 21, 2015 in accordance with the expiration of the LOI".

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Published: 03 Sep 2015, 12:02 AM IST
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