9 November 2014
Polling has revealed strong opposition from within India to the plans of GVK and Adani to import coal from their proposed Queensland mega-mines. The poll, conducted by Indian market research company AZ Research for Market Forces, found that 69% of people in India don’t support the import of coal from the proposed Galilee Basin mines, with the strongest opposition to the plans coming from areas such as Gujarat, the home state of Adani.
The main findings of the survey were that:
- The majority of Indians (69%) oppose importing coal from the mines proposed by GVK and Adani, with the strongest opposition found in regions to the west of the country. Adani’s home state of Gujarat was 87% opposed to importing coal from the Galilee Basin.
- Most Indians believe that the country’s future power needs are best served by building renewable energy (68%) as opposed to coal (29%).
- The majority (58%) consider the environmental and health costs of coal-fired power are unjustified.
- The majority (56%) believed that the major coal power expansion in India over the past decade had continued to leave those without energy access behind. Only 38% thought that the expansion of coal had alleviated energy poverty.
Market Forces has also released a video of people from Adani’s home state of Gujarat, talking about their experiences of coal.
In releasing the results, Market Forces Lead Campaigner Julien Vincent said: “We’re talking about opening up one of the world’s biggest untapped coal basins and adding billions of tonnes of carbon pollution to the atmosphere, building massive new coal export terminals at Abbot Point in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, turning the Reef into a coal shipping superhighway and then asking people in India to pay twice as much for this dirty energy. It’s no wonder that the idea is so unpopular.”
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69% of Indians are against importing dirty and expensive #coal from the Galilee Basin http://t.co/5TiPkAarvo pic.twitter.com/MPKF85lX1X
— Market Forces (@market_forces) November 9, 2014
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Adani and GVK are pushing ahead with their plans to mine the Galilee Basin, one of the biggest untapped coal reserves in the world. If they do, it will mean adding billions of tonnes more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, building massive new coal export terminals in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and turning the Reef itself into a coal shipping superhighway. All this to bring more dirty and expensive coal into India. Adani says it wants to start construction in early 2015 but we know that they need the support of the big Australian banks to secure finance. Already this year, nine of the world’s biggest coal-funding banks have ruled out financing the new coal export terminals that are critical to opening up the Galilee Basin, but we need the “big four” (ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac) to follow suit. If you are with one of the big banks you can also click here to put your bank “on notice” – tell them that if they choose to fund more fossil fuels, you’ll choose another bank!