Government may provide up to $1 bn loan for Adani Australia coal mine.

Adani Enterprises won support recently from the government and an Australian state to help it build a $7 billion coal mine, rail and port project, defying a slump in coal prices to 5-1/2 year lows that has stalled rival projects.

The Indian trading and infrastructure conglomerate signed a memorandum of understanding to line up a loan of up to $1 billion from the State Bank of IndiaBSE 2.55 % for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, which it aims to build by the end of 2017.

'The MOU with SBI is a significant milestone in the development of our Carmichael mine,' Adani Group Chairman and founder, Gautam Adani, who has close ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said in a statement, following a signing in Brisbane.

Adani came to Brisbane with a business delegation from India for the G20 summit, which Modi attended over the weekend.

ET