Indian energy giant Adani's controversial Carmichael coal and mine project in Australia has received approval for a water licence from Queensland state government, a ‘milestone’ in the approval process for the 21.7 billion dollar project. Adani Australia confirmed this on its Facebook page by stating that it has achieved another milestone in the approval process for the project.
“The Department of Natural Resources and Mines has granted an associated water licence to allow the safe operation of the mine. The modelling assessed by the department shows that up to 4.55 Gl of groundwater could be taken per year,” it said.
With the granting of the associated water licence there are now 100 conditions related to groundwater including specific conditions relating to monitoring and reporting, the company said. It said that under the conditions of the associated water licence for groundwater, Adani will also need to establish good agreements with groundwater users who could potentially be affected by changes to water availability or quality.
Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj, at a recently held 'Energy and Resource: Mega projects' told a business forum that the company was eyeing to start the rail and mine construction in August/September this year.
“This project will get funded and will see execution this year,” Janakaraj said. While highlighting the growing need for energy consumption in India, Janakaraj said to meet the growing demand Adani had imported 77 million tonnes of coal from Australia last year.
“(India) does have resources but those resources are limited, they have their own challenge(s) because they also have to feed 1.2 billion people and this is exactly where countries and vast areas like Australia play a very strategic role in terms of the food security, the energy security and long term strategic partnership between large countries,” he said.