Billions in profits, silence on tax: Adani’s Australian enigma

An advertising blitz claims mining taxes help pay for our essential services but it appears we taxpayers are paying millions of dollars to help coal miner Adani make profits.

Former Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick, who was at the heart of negotiations with Adani, revealed in Parliament that the Crisafulli Government has provided a financial windfall of at least $500 million to Adani.

This contrasts with a Minerals Council of Australia advertising campaign claiming that Australian mining pays enough tax to fund Medicare.

But wait, there's more — or less in this case, when it comes to Adani paying company taxes.

The $500 million Dick refers to is money that should be flowing to us in royalties, which are payments for digging up and exporting coal from its Carmichael Mine in Queensland. The company should also be paying corporate taxes.

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In the last financial year, the company's income was $1.27 billion — that's $1,274,681,000 in figures. It paid company tax of $0. That's zero. Nothing. Nil. Nought.

And despite increased profitability and increased output, the company says its losses were worse than the previous year.

The failure to pay company tax is because the Queensland Adani company owes billions of dollars to the Adani group in India and sends its Australian profits to the group as debt payments.

In India, Adani paid 74,945 crore in taxes — nearly 12 billion Australian dollars.

The public knows this because Gautam Adani, the founder of the company, has said:

“Transparency is the foundation of trust and trust is essential for sustainable growth.”

And:

“By voluntarily sharing these reports with the public... we aim to... set new benchmarks for corporate conduct.”

Independent Australia asked Adani, which trades in Australia as Bravus, if the executive director of Adani Australia and CEO of Bravus subscribe to Gautam Adani's philosophy about being transparent about taxation matters and sharing such reports with the public.

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We received no reply.

And when IA asked Adani to provide details of its profits and tax situation in Australia, it refused, saying:

‘...our financial reports have all the details.’

But an internet search for “Bravus financial reports” failed to find any freely available taxation records.

The Minerals Council of Australia campaign says:

‘Mining taxes and royalties help fund schools, training, and future careers.’

It is an echo of a March 2025 claim by the Adani company North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT), about an economic impact study by North Queensland Bulk Ports, which ‘highlighted the multi-billion-dollar contribution the North Queensland Export Terminal...’

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NQXT said the study was:

‘...a great demonstration of how that work facilitates billions of dollars in taxes and royalties each year, which the Queensland and Australian governments use to pay for vital services such as health, education, childcare, aged care and defence.’

NQXT was enthusiastic in boasting about “billions of dollars” being paid in taxes and royalties, but Adani refused to answer how much NQXT had contributed to those “vital services”. It would seem it was the users of the terminal, not Adani, who contributed the taxes and royalties.

Since then, an Adani company in India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), has acquired NQXT. The APSEZ transparent tax reports in India reveal taxation being paid to the Indian Exchequer by its “Overseas Business Operations”.

Page 47 of the APSEZ 2023-24 report says taxes from its Australian business operations amounted to 2,296 million rupees. That's about $42 million.

Page 326 of the 2024-25 APSEZ report reveals taxation from its Australian operations to the Indian Exchequer to have been 252 crores — about $40 million.

IA drew Adani's attention to these reports and asked for the total amount paid to the Indian Exchequer. We have not received a reply.

Using the APSEZ figures, the Indian Government benefits from Adani operations in Queensland, while Australian education and health services, which should be benefiting from Adani/Bravus company taxes and royalties, are being short-changed.

Does Adani intend to introduce tax transparency reports in Australia?

The company failed to reply.