Illustration: Andrew Dyson
Illustration: Andrew Dyson

A lot has been written about Australia's biggest coal mine, the Carmichael Project in Queensland. But little is known about the man who will be at the helm of this massive venture.
The buzz around the $16.5 billion Carmichael Coal and Rail Project has been largely about its environmental implications and the impact on the Australian economy, rather than about Adani Enterprises and the man who runs this empire – Gautam Adani.
The 52-year-old  Adani is a self-made, first generation multi-billionaire in India.  Owner of India's biggest private port located on the west coast of Gujarat, Adani's business interests span across coal  mining, construction, education, power plants and resources and logistics management.
He started off earnestly in 1988 in commodities trading. In the '90s his fortunes changed. He acquired 1200 hectares of land in the arid desert of the Kutch region in Gujarat, which stretches as far as the coast. There he developed a port and turned it into the world's largest coal unloading facility. This port is surrounded by a Special Economic Zone owned, operated and developed by him. It has a power plant, private railway link and an airstrip to facilitate businesses and industries. This zone was developed without environmental clearance, an issue that came back to haunt him later.
Adani is India's largest private port's owner and his stupendous rise came after Narendra Modi was appointed Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2001.
Adani and Modi's friendship goes back to the turbulent days of 2002. Reeling from the aftermath of sectarian violence in the state, Modi had come under severe fire from industrialists and their representative body – the Confederation of Indian Industry. It was  Adani along with other Gujarati businessman, who stood up for Modi and reiterated that Gujarat would remain a preferred destination for business and investment, and that they were committed to its development.
Adani was an unequivocal supporter of Modi. He made big announcements of investment in the state, providing the much required boost to the state's economy and simultaneously bolstering Modi's confidence.
Their friendship has  gone from strength to strength. According to India's Association for Democratic Reforms, which carries out the rigorous exercise of bringing transparency to Indian elections, Adani Enterprises has been a big donor to Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party.
Adani's growth from being a $US765 million company in 2002 to a $8.8 billion one in 2013 coincides with 12 years of Modi's government in Gujarat. It is therefore only natural that there would be speculation and debate about the links between them. Rumours and allegations gained unprecedented momentum when Modi fought the 2014 federal election as India's prime ministerial candidate.
Under attack from Congress scion, Rahul Gandhi,  Adani, the reclusive Gujarati businessman who prefers to speak Gujarati rather  than Hindi or English,  denied to India's vast national media that his growth had anything to do with Modi. When he denied Modi's patronage, he  just further strengthened the speculation about his close ties with India's most powerful politician. This speculation was finally laid to rest when Modi, on the day he left Gujarat for a new position in New Delhi,  chose to fly  in Adani's private jet.
The friendship has earned rich dividends for Adani. Modi is now the Prime Minister of India. Within days of taking up his new job, the environment ministry cleared a roadblock that had been affecting Adani's growth plans at one of his Mundra ports in Gujarat.
His stock has consistently risen since Modi's arrival on the national stage and his ambitions have been further bolstered, following Modi's emphasis on power generation as his government's top  priority. Adani now plans to invest around $2 billion to build a 2500 megawatt powerplant in the state of Odisha in India.
Adani dreams big and his ambitious projects have seldom failed. But might this happen in Australia? This is the question that naturally arises, given the Carmichael project is a huge investment at a time when coal prices are weak.
This may not be a cause of worry for the Adani,  a man of great wealth. The real area of concern for Australians, should be whether he can be trusted to fulfil his obligations to sustain the environmental clearance the Carmichael project has been given.
Adani's environmental record in India is dubious. His business activities have resulted in several mangrove areas being destroyed. Mangroves are essential to maintain an ecological balance and ensure the integrity of a coastal region. Furthermore, his business activities have resulted in inadequately treated waste water being dumped into sea and the violation of multiple environmental laws.
This is why we must watch Adani closely in Australia. We must ensure the Great Barrier Reef is not adversely affected by his bid to develop a port at Abbott Point.
His handling of environmental issues in India has been highly questionable so far, especially with regard to the Special Economic Zone in Mundra, Gujarat. It went ahead without the mandatory environmental clearance required from the Indian government.
Unfortunately for Adani, the entire Special Economic Zone project was put in limbo when the state's High Court described it as illegal and asked the industries located within it to shut up shop. The matter then went to the Federal court that  allowed the industries to continue operating, while Adani sought environmental clearance. This clearance was given when Modi became Prime Minister.
 Had it not been for Modi's ascendance to the national stage, one wonders what the future of the Mundra Special Economic Zone might have been.
Australia has chosen to do business with Adani and therefore it is essential to know him, and more importantly, understand the way he works. Adani has it in him to turn an arid desert land into a thriving economic junction. In India, the change came at the cost of locals and the environment. Is Australia prepared for an Adani kind of change?
Mosiqi Acharya is a senior TV journalist who worked for CNN IBN and Headlines Today in India, where she covered the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a decade.  Now based in Melbourne, she is a journalist with SBS Radio and was a commentator for the Australia India Institute's Election Watch.