Mining may start in 5 mths, CM tells House

Porvorim: CM Pramod Sawant told the House on Tuesday that mining may be started in Goa in five months.
“The process of auctioning 88 mining leases and the new leases have started,” he said. “It will be completed in four months, and if the process for obtaining environmental clearances (ECs) is completed in a month, we will be able to start mining within five months.” He was replying to a question tabled by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai and Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar.
Sawant said that once a new lease holder comes on board, the EC — in the case of the 88 mining leases — will be transferred to the new lease holder.
House members repeatedly asked the CM to give a date by which mining will start. Amonkar said that for the past ten years, the government has given ‘tarikh pe tarikh’ (date after date), and demanded that mining should be started at the earliest.
Sawant also said that the government awaits export duty to be reverted to the old rate, to auction the remaining ore and to facilitate the export of low-grade iron ore.
Sawant said that of the 88 leases, those that fall under a single EC will be taken as one block and auctioned accordingly. “Once auctioned, within 15 days, the EC will be transferred to the new lessee,” Sawant said.
SBI Capital Markets (SBICap), the entity appointed by the Goa government as transaction advisor, has auctioned leases of similar nature in other states, and successfully completed auctioning there, he said. Leases will be transferred as provided under the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, for two years. After two years, a lease holder will have to obtain a fresh EC, he said.
Addressing Sardesai’s concerns that small, local companies will be thrown out of the business with the likelihood of big players entering the market after auction, Sawant said that there is a provision for area restriction for mining leases under the MMDR Act.
“Not more than 10km can be leased out to a single lessee for mining. There will be scope for small mining companies from Goa,” Sawant said.
Sardesai said that with the SBICap gaining prominence, the mining corporation exists only on paper. “The mining corporation is in existence,” Sawant responded. “We are exploring if the corporation can take up other activities including participation in the auctioning.”
The CM reiterated that locals will be given preference by new leaseholders when it comes to recruitment.
Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao also sought to know the status of recovery of the Rs 35,000 crore loss as reported by the justice M B Shah commission.
“Acting on reports of chartered accountants, the CAG and special investigation team (SIT) on mining, the state has recovered Rs 80 crore,” Sawant said.