Adani Enterprises To Get $1-billion Loan From SBI For Its Coal Mine

Adani Enterprises has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India (SBI) for its upcoming coal mine at Carmichael in Queensland, Australia. According to the MoU, SBI will provide a loan of up to $1 billion to the company.

"The MoU with SBI is a significant milestone in the development of our Carmichael mine," Adani Group Chairman and founder Gautam Adani said.

The company also managed to get a commitment from the Queensland state government to take minority stakes in rail and seaport infrastructure required for transportation. Coal from the Carmichael mine is required to be sent 400 km away by rail to Australia's east coast.

"We are bringing on board valued partners in different facets of this integrated project, ensuring we will meet our guidance of first coal in 2017," Adani Mining CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj said.

Adani wants to build the mine by 2017. However, experts believe that the target of opening a mine in 2017 is highly aggressive as there is no debt funding. Moreover, there is uncertainty over growth in demand for coal in India.