State Bank of India could fund Gautam Adani’s coal mine in Australia

(National Herald, New Delhi, 9 May 2017) Australia's Market Forces environmental finance group has warned that Indian businessman Gautam Adani could turn to the Indian government to get his $21 billion coal mine funded, as Australian and international investors increasingly pull out of the project due to environmental concerns. "The (funding) model now looks like a combination of North Australia Infrastructure Funding (NAIF) funding, State Bank of India (SBI) and foreign export credit providing the bulk of the debt. The remainder would likely rely heavily on Indian commercial banks that Adani has a close relationship with, and some other foreign commercial banks that have not yet ruled out finance," Julien Vincent, the Executive Director at Market Forces, told National Herald, replying to an emailed questionnaire. Taxpayers in Australia and India are most likely to fill the funding gap that Adani is experiencing, Vincent said.