The adage that when a door closes, another window opens appears true for Australia's mining sector BHP Billiton announced it will no longer push through with its Olympic Dam expansion project, the federal government approved the $10.4-billion coal mine and rail project of Indian firm GVK Power and Infrastructure in Galilee Project.

Environment Minister Tony Burke's green light came after four long years of negotiations and despite opposition by environmental groups over the venture due to its potential impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

In approving the project, the federal government imposed 19 conditions to protect the environment.

Leading the coal mine project is the Alpha coal project which is a joint venture between GVK and Hancock Prospecting. The Indian firm owns 79 per cent of the venture and the remaining 21 per cent is held by Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman. The project has over 30 years of mine life and is estimated to produce 32 million tonnes of coal a year, said GVK Vice Chairman G.V. Sanjay Reddy.

"This positive decision also paves the way to ensure more than 1.4 billion people (largely in Asia) that face a major shortage of electricity are provided with an additional source of coal to enhance supply of electricity to the region, thus improving quality of life and overall economic development," Mr Reddy said in a statement.

The Indian firm, a conglomerate that has business interests in airports, hotels, transportation and power, was obviously referring to its home country which recently suffered a massive blackout due to high demand for power and shortage of supply because of ageing infrastructure.

Greenpeace insisted that the 19 environmental conditions placed by the federal government is not sufficient.

"It was shambolic then and it's still shambolic now," ABC quoted Georgina Woods of Greenpeace, who said the government did not give due consideration to devastating environmental impact of the mine.

AgForce, the rural lobby group, said the concerns of landholders were also set aside.

"We were hoping that the minister himself of his advisers making the decision would visit landholders and hear their concerns and we're bitterly disappointed that hasn't happened," Peter Anderson of AgForce told ABC.

The two green groups were joined by the North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) which said the 19 conditions do not guarantee protection for the reef, which is a World Heritage site.

"What we see over and over again is a lovely environmental management plan produced and it is worth, to be honest, diddly squat because it sits on a shelf and no one takes any notice of it as far as we can see," NQCC spokeswoman Wendy Tubman said.

Those in favour of the project, such as Barcaldine Mayor Rob Chandlers, pointed to the thousands of jobs the venture would create.

When the federal government took over the approval of the project in July, Mr Burke hit the Queensland government because its assessment report failed to meet Commonwealth standards.

"I cannot have a situation in front of me where you have thousands of jobs on the line, and the environment asset at stake is known as the Great Barrier Reef, be subject to this sort of political game. I want a streamlined approach, I don't want a shambolic joke, and that is what Queensland is wanting me to accept," he said then.

GVK said the project would be one of the lowest-cost new thermal coalmines in the world.

"We are very confident of the project's viability, with strong global investor support, a full order book, favourable consistent geology, robust low operating costs and with an ever-increasing employee base," GVK spokesman Paul Mulder said.

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