Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Norton Rose are acting on what is believed to be the largest single investment by an Indian company in Australia.

Adani Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of India’s Adani Group, is to purchase Australian-owned Linc’s Galilee Coal’s Galilee Basin tenement, in a deal worth approximately A$3bn. The Corrs team, headed by partner, John Kelly, and senior associate, Franka Cheung, is advising the Adani Group, India’s largest coal importer, on its acquisition of the Queensland coal tenement.  

The sale includes an upfront payment of A$500m and A$2 per tonne in royalties for the first 20 years of coal production. The coal tenement is among the largest in the region and holds an estimated 7.8 billion tonnes of thermal coal.

Norton Rose is advising Linc on the sale. “This transaction represents an extremely significant investment by Indian enterprise in the continued expansion of the Australian mining industry and in particular the Queensland coal industry. This investment will have significant beneficial flow-on effects to the economy as a result of the development of the tenement and the associated infrastructure expected to be needed as a result of its development,” Norton Rose partner, Michael Joyce, said. 

Adani Group will make an additional investment of around A$5b over the next six years into infrastructure for the Greenfield mine, which will also include the development of a coal terminal at Dudgeon Point, Queensland.

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