Goa budget: Pramod Sawant expects Rs 500 crore revenue from mining

PANAJI: While listing the five steps taken by the state government to restart mining activities, chief minister Pramod Sawant, who is also the finance minister, projected Rs 500 crore revenue from the sector for the financial year 2020-2021 in the budget.
The chief minister said resumption of mining and allied activities is the priority of the budget. “Yes we have considered Rs 500 crore revenue from the mining sector. Definitely it will be more than that,” Sawant told reporters after presenting the budget.
Stating that the government has left no stone unturned to restart mining in the state, he said, in the interim, the Supreme Court decision to allow export and transportation of royalty paid iron ore extracted before March 15, 2018, has provided much relief to mining dependants.
He said the state government took five steps to restart mining, including filing of review petition against the Supreme Court’s February 7, 2018, order quashing second renewal of 88 mining leases, filing of interlocutory application for handling dumps, getting permission to allow exports for royalty paid ore, looking for alternative to resume mining and e-auctioning of iron ore.
“Restarting mining will help the government provide employment in the sector,” he said, adding that, precaution would be taken to protect the environment.
The state government will allow mining of major and minor minerals, including sand extraction, without violating environmental laws, he said.