INDIAN coal and infrastructure giant Adani has taken a further step towards its vision of full vertical integration in the Australian coal chain by paying the Queensland government $1.83 billion for the Abbot Point coal terminal in north Queensland.
Australian coal baron Nathan Tinkler was believed to have bid $1.9bn for the port, but the government settled on Adani because the Tinkler offer had been made after bids had closed.
Queensland Finance Minister Rachel Nolan said that while the Tinkler offer had offered more money, the government would have had to re-open tenders, and there was no guarantee that Adani or the Tinkler Group would bid again.
"At the end of the day, we decided that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," she told The Australian.
"We had a proper process, all ticked off by the auditors and probity commissioners, and we got a price that was more than what we thought we'd get."
The Australian
No comments:
Post a Comment