Carbon Energy Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Adani Enterprises Ltd (Adani), a member of the Adani Group of India, for the purpose of establishing a joint venture in India to pursue Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).

The first opportunity that Adani and Carbon Energy will explore has arisen as a result of Coal India Limited (a Government of India Undertaking) operating a tender process in which Indian coal firms have sought UCG technology partners to participate in joint venture development of UCG interests. The MoU facilitates the partnership between Carbon Energy and Adani to jointly participate in this tender submission.

Andrew Dash, Managing Director, noted that partnership with Adani brings significant benefit to Carbon Energy. 'Carbon Energy will now be pursuing projects on three continents with the addition of India to our existing interests in Australia and in Chile. Adani is a major player in the Indian coal and power industries and has already established itself in Queensland, Australia. We are looking forward to working with Adani to build Carbon Energy's UCG project base in India'.

Harsh Mishra, Adani Group's President - Corporate Planning commented, 'Adani has selected Carbon Energy as our technology partner for this important submission to Coal India as it is the leading proponent of UCG globally and it has superiority in UCG technology based on extensive research conducted in conjunction with Australia's CSIRO. '

The Memorandum of Understanding is for a period of 18 months during which it is anticipated that Adani and Carbon Energy will jointly prepare and submit a bid to establish a UCG project on Coal India tenements in India. If the bid is successful, Adani will bear all costs throughout the exploration phase, including Carbon Energy's reasonable costs, until exploration has been successfully conducted and a suitable UCG resource established. Adani and Carbon Energy then anticipate forming a joint venture company in India in which Adani will have a 75% share and commitment and Carbon Energy will have a 25% share and commitment.

Tags: Adani Group, Carbon Energy Limited