Goa govt begins process to take over 100+ mining leases

PANAJI: Barring 88 mining leases, the state government has started the process to take over remaining leases so that they can be put up for auction. The directorate of mines and geology said that there are over 100 mining leases which have expired.
A mines department official said that a proposal has been sent to the state government to take over the remaining mining leases.

"Once the state government approves the proposal, the process to take over the leases will commence," the officer said.
Presently the state government has taken over 88 mining leases and nine of them have been put up for auction and the entire auctioning process has been completed for four of them.
Explaining the process, the officer said that if the remaining mining leases are not taken over then the mines department has limited scope while auctioning leases. “Mines department can auction only 88 mining leases and they cannot put up the other mining blocks for auction until those mines are taken over,” the officer said.
The state has set a deadline of March 31 to complete the auction of all mining leases operational before 2018.