Image Credit:twitter.com/gautam_adani, livemint.com
The Adani Group, working at the Carmichael Coal Mine in Queensland through its Australian arm Bravus Mining and Resources, has mined the ‘first coal’ at the site. The announcement was made by the Indian conglomerate through a statement on Thursday.
According to the company, “the first of the coal seams” has been exposed at the Carmichael project. The CEO of Bravus Mining and Resources, David Boshoff said that the company would start exporting coal from the Australian mine from this year itself. He further announced that India would be a foundation customer for the mine and that a market of 10 million tonnes per year had already been secured by the company.
The founder and the Chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani, took to the microblogging site Twitter to share the news. “Proud of my tenacious team who mined Carmichael’s ‘first coal’ in the face of heavy odds,” he said.
Proud of my tenacious team who mined Carmichael's 'first coal' in the face of heavy odds. There couldn't be a better birthday gift than being able to strengthen our nation's energy security and provide affordable power to India's millions. Thank you, Queensland and Australia. pic.twitter.com/NbHLccLZko
— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) June 24, 2021
The businessman who is also celebrating his 59th birthday today, called the mining at the Carmichael Mine the best birthday gift he could get. “There couldn’t be a better birthday gift than being able to strengthen our nation’s energy security and provide affordable power to India’s millions,” he tweeted.
The CEO explained that the mined coal would be sold at index pricing which would ensure that all taxes and royalties of the company are paid to the Australian government. “India gets the energy they need and Australia gets the jobs and economic benefits in the process,” Boshoff added.
Meanwhile the Adani Group has not been enjoying the best of times. In the previous week, various arms of the Adani conglomerate faced a rout with stock price of Adani Ports falling by over 23 percent after media reports emerged of 3 FPI’s of the company getting blocked by NSDL. Gautam Adani himself lost around $9 billion due to reports which the company called ‘manipulative‘.
On Tuesday, Norwegian pension fund KLP divested from Adani Ports citing the company’s connection with Myanmar’s military.