Companies unlikely to hit 20MT cap as green nod nixed

PANAJI: Mining companies may not be able to exhaust the 20 million tonne iron ore cap by March 15, as the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has decided not to grant consent to operate for the extraction of the iron ore that has been redistributed by the mines department.
With less than a fortnight to go before mining operations in the state come to a stop, as mandated by the Supreme Court, the directorate of mines and geology had redistributed the extraction limit among operational mines to achieve the 20 million tonne cap before March 15.

At present, only 9 million tonnes of iron ore have been extracted in the state.

A mine department officer said that if the board does not grant consent to operate, then only another one to two million tonnes of iron ore will be extracted in the state.

Pollution board member secretary Levinson Martins said that as of now no board meeting has been scheduled to discuss the mining issue. “We have not granted mining companies any consent to operate to extract extra ore,” he added.

“In light of the second renewal of mining leases being quashed by virtue of the said apex court judgement, the board as on this date will not consider granting any consents or amending any consent to operate in respect of any mining unit under the Water Act and Air Act,” Martins said in a letter to the director of mines Prasanna Acharya .

After the redistribution of iron ore extraction limit, mining companies had approached the pollution board seeking consent to operate for the additional ore.

A mines department officer said that around 50% of the mines in the state are operational.

Acharya had said that the exercise of redistribution wasn’t only to achieve the 20 million tonne target, but also to ensure that revenue is earned by the owner of the minerals — the state of Goa — by way of royalty duty. Thus, Acharya, had said, it wasn’t sufficient that the ore was extracted. It has to be processed, transported and traded, activities that generate revenue for the government, he had added.

He also said that if the produced ore wasn’t shifted within a reasonable time frame, his department might reduce the enhancement so that the target was achieved by some other leaseholders.

“The officer of Indian Bureau of Mines and Goa State Pollution Control Board shall be approached immediately by the leaseholder for the sake of modification of mining plan or scheme of mining and consent under Air Act and Water Act,” Acharya said.