‘Toxic’: Adani to set up $4 bn plant in Gujarat; to convert Australian coal to plastic

Adani Enterprises, the owner of Carmichael mine in Australia’s Queensland, is planning to turn the mine’s coal into toxic PVC plastic in India by setting up a plant worth USD 4 billion that would emit 3 times more carbon emissions than is generated to make oil for plastics.

The company is seeking for an environmental clearance that would be used to set up a massive processing plant that will help them to turn coal into PVC plastic in Mundra , Gujrat.

The Carmichael coal mine in a filing to Indian authorities said , “the plant will use 3.1 million tonnes of coal a year at the plant to make 2 million tonnes of PVC.” The plant will use a high processing system to convert coal-to-plastic in India that would be a source of high emission of carbon footprints which the critics alleged is an attempt for revival of thermal coal when the world is shifting to green energy sources.

One of the most controversial Carmichael coal mines of Queensland Galilee basin till now was advocated to provide electricity to countries like Bangladesh and India in an attempt to free them from energy poverty but the recent progress of the company has made things clearer for its toxic plan to use an alternative of coal.

The Guardian when asked Adani, which has rebranded in Australia to Bravus Mining and Resources about the clearance and new filing for a processing plant in India said, “India will be a foundation customer for the Carmichael project and is the fourth-largest global user of electricity as well as the source of the biggest growth in global energy demand.” 

He further added “We have already secured the market for the 10 million tonne per annum of coal produced at the Carmichael mine that will be sold at index pricing and we will not be engaging in transfer pricing practices, which means that all of our taxes and royalties will be paid here in Australia.”

People have been coming forward to protest against the plan and in a way are trying to question investors to pull off the project which is neither in the benefits of people nor climate change. Earlier Samsung, one of the investor and tech conglomerates, pulled off the project and now people are demanding Black Rock, one of the biggest investors in the Carmichael coal mine, to move away from the project.

“This is Adani creating new uses for thermal coal instead of transitioning out of thermal coal. That’s important for investors in the Adani group to know. This is a company that is not winding down its thermal coal use, but trying to find new ways to use a resource and avoid Carmichael turning into a stranded asset,” said Pablo Brait, a campaigner at Market Forces.