What is India’s largest bank thinking?? 350org

Dear friend,

India’s largest bank just agreed to finance Australia’s largest new coal mine. 

On Monday, the State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to lend $1 billion to the Indian power giant Adani for its disastrous Carmichael Coal mine – the largest of 9 proposed mega coal mines in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.[1]

Unlocking the Galilee Basin will cook the climate, wreck one of the world’s most treasured natural icons – the Great Barrier Reef – and lock India into decades of dirty expensive coal.

But this deal is far from sealed. SBI’s agreement with Adani is not legally binding and, as we speak, the Indian Stock Exchange is questioning the Bank’s involvement.[2]

Click here to urge SBI to join the growing movement of financiers saying no to new coal.

Already eight major international banks have ruled out involvement in these projects. That’s why Adani is so desperate to secure the funds it needs to go ahead. Adani is trying everything it can to keep the Galilee project alive in the face of declining coal prices and mass public opposition to new coal in both Australia and India.

If burned, the Basin’s coal would dwarf the total pollution from all but the six largest economies in the world. And the only way to get this coal to India is by shipping it, in thousands of coal tankers-worth a year, right through the precious Great Barrier Reef.

Coal is not the future that India wants. Around the country, people in India are desperately fighting for real energy solutions, not more expensive, dirty coal imports that trash our climate and exacerbate energy poverty.

And that’s why today Indians turned out at the State Bank of India’s headquarters in Mumbai to call on the Bank to reverse its dirty coal deal. They pointed to Australia, where thousands of customers are moving hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Australian banks in protest over their lending to new fossil fuels. If SBI goes ahead with this deal, they can expect similar outrage from their customers and Indians everywhere.

Add your voice today – tell the State Bank of India not to finance mega Australian coal mines that will cook the climate, trash the Great Barrier Reef and perpetuate Indian energy poverty.

Yours for a clean energy future,

Ayesha and Chaitanya for 350 India and Charlie for 350 Australia

PS: Click here to tweet the State Bank of India and their Regulator the Reserve Bank of India and click here to share on facebook.

[1] Adani Group, State Bank of India and Adani Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote company’s long-term future with Queensland, 17 November.

[2] Amanda Saunders, National Stock Exchange of India quizzes Adani on loan for Galilee Basin Coal Project,19 November.

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