GVK Power and Infrastructure has got environmental clearance for its $10 billion Alpha coal and rail project in the Australian state of Queensland,attached albeit,with a string of 19 conditions. The clearance comes in the backdrop of a Reuters report on Thursday which said Australias resources minister had declared the end of the countrys mining boom,a day after the worlds biggest miner BHP Billiton shelved two expansion plans worth at least $40 billion. GVK,which runs airports and power plants was handed the go-ahead by environment minister Tony Burke. It can now build and operate the Alpha Coal Mine as also a railway line between the mine and the port at Abbot Point,near Bowen. GVK claims it has spent in excess of $25 million specifically on ensuring that its environmental assessment process is of the highest standard. Burke said the approval included measures to protect Queenslands Great Barrier Reef and other threatened species in the area. The Queensland government had accorded environment clearance for the said project in May,2012. Later,the federal government had raised objections to the environmental clearance given by the provincial government to the project. This is another important milestone for our project which will provide significant benefits to the Alpha and Bowen regions. The projects which we are planning will provide 2,000 ongoing jobs in operations,directly employ around 4,000 during construction and return to government $1.5 billion annually in royalties and taxes at peak production, GV Sanjay Reddy,vice-Chairman,said.
