Indian energy giant, Adani Group, received the final regulatory approval to commence work on its controversy-hit Carmichael Coal Mine project in Queensland, Australia. This clearance was obtained after the Queensland state authorities approved Adani Group’s groundwater management plan.

The clearance for the project is being seen as a result of the astonishing election win of Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who leads a pro-coal coalition.

The Adani Group was faced with two persistent hurdles — the groundwater plan and the finch management plan — before it could start working on the largest coal mine project in Australia. It received the first approval from the Queensland state government on May 31 for its crucial environmental plan that aims to protect the endangered black-throated finch birds at its project site.

Adani can now begin mining at the project site following the approval.  However, the design for the railway line that would send the coal to the Abbot Point Terminal, north of Bowen town, remains unfinalized.

Even with the approval for producing up to 60 million tonnes of thermal coal annually, Adani Group is planning to produce only 27.5 million tonnes at this stage.

The purchase of the greenfield Carmichael Coal Mine, which is located in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north marked the entry of Gautam Adani-led Adani Group in the country in 2010.

The approval for producing 2.3 billion tonnes during the service life of the mine with the annual allowance of extraction of up to 60 million tonnes will most likely make Adani Carmichael Coal Mine the largest in Australia.