The Brumby Government has shelved its controversial plans to allow the mining and export of Victorian brown coal to India, amid fears of a voter backlash.
Three months after plans to allow Melbourne-based Exergen to launch a $1.5 billion coal export scheme were revealed, Energy Minister Peter Batchelor has now ruled it out.
The company wants to mine, dry and export 12 million tonnes of brown coal a year to be burned in Indian power stations. Its proposal would be the first major export of Victoria's carbon-intense brown coal.
The Government rethink comes after The Age revealed leaked cabinet documents in October showing that a priority allocation of coal for Exergen was ''imminent'' and that a tender had been proposed for next year to allocate an extra 13 billion tonnes of coal.