Indian conglomerate Adani Group has hired Morgan Stanley to sell part of its stake in the Abbot Point coal port, Australia's most northerly coal port, in Queensland.

Adani plans to build a new terminal at Abbot Point to handle coal from its proposed Carmichael coal project, potentially one of the world's biggest new coal mines.

An expansion of the port, however, would likely lead to more ships navigating the sea lanes near the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, which is causing a lot of controversy in Australia.

Morgan Stanley wanted to separate from the controversy by clarifiying that the bank will not finance the project. "Morgan Stanley will not lend to or invest in the expansion of Abbot Point," it said. A Morgan Stanley spokesman in Australia said the bank was "not in the business of providing greenfield project financing in Australia."

Adani said in a statement that funds raised from the sale would be used to finance the expansion. Adani also said that any partial sale of Adani's current holdings at the port would in fact be used to deliver the port's expansion.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have already said they wouldn't support new investment at Abbot Point potentially making complicated the search for funding by Adani and India's GVK, who want to export coal from nearby mines.

Josh Euler, speaking on behalf of GVK and Hancock, said the proposed expansion had been through a comprehensive environmental assessment overseen by state and national governments.