REPORT

The Adani Brief Update

On February 15, 2017, Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) published The Adani Brief, which documented allegations of conduct by the Adani Group and its associated entities, including alleged illegal dealings and corruption, current and past court cases filed against Adani in Indian courts, and failures to comply with environmental laws.

In January, 2019, we published The Adani Brief Update, an updated version of the original brief that introduces new developments relating to companies within the Adani Group. Our research reinforces the views expressed in our previous reports and once again suggests that governments, decision-makers and private stakeholders involved in the project need to seriously consider the risks involved in allowing the mine and associated port expansion to proceed.

The Adani Brief Update: The Adani Group’s environmental and human rights record suggests that governments and private stakeholders should give serious consideration to:

  • the Adani Group’s global legal compliance record which demonstrates numerous serious breaches with adverse consequences for the environment and local people; and
  • the possibility that if this track record continues in Australia, then supporting the Adani Group’s Carmichael Mine and the Abbot Point Port may expose governments and private stakeholders to reputational and financial risks.

The Adani Brief Update documents the following:

  1. Alleged forced removal of local indigenous people from site of coal plant that will burn Carmichael coal and reportedly will exacerbate energy poverty in Bangladesh.
  2. Alleged unsafe labour practices leading to deaths and serious injuries.
  3. Illegal destruction of land within wildlife sanctuary.
  4. Alleged illegal inflation of the value of imported coal and of the cost of electricity for Indian consumers.
  5. Alleged illegal over-valuation of capital equipment imports.
  6. Pollution of the Great Barrier Reef and possible alteration of laboratory reports.
  7. Endangering sacred springs and the associated freshwater ecosystem.
  8. Attempts to silence critics through the inappropriate use of defamation law.