Mine ban lift will uplift Goan economy: FIMI
PTI, NEW DELHI | 22 April 2014 11:49 IST
The lifting of an 18-month ban on mining in Goa will help revive economic activity in the coastal state, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) said.
Officials of a few iron ore mining companies in Goa, however, said the judgement has termed all mining from 2007 onwards as "illegal" but has not either levied a penalty or provided a way out.
Welcoming the order, FIMI Secretary General R K Sharma said: "It is a very good thing to happen. This will bring the mining industry back in Goa. It will create employment and boost the economic activity." .
The apex court today partially lifted the mining ban in the state and allowed 20 million tonnes of iron ore to be extracted annually. Production in Goa before the ban was about 45 million tonnes a year.
The court had banned operations in all 90 mines in Goa from September 2012 after the Justice M B Shah Commission pointed out illegalities in the industry.
"The mining industry in Goa will breathe into life again. Port activities in the state, which were also suffering due to the ban, would again come back into life," Sharma said.
Officials of some mining companies expressed disappointment.
"Unless it is stated clearly, the taint will remain with us forever (of doing illegal mining). Since 2007, more than 200 million tonnes of iron ore has been mined in Goa. What will be happen to that mined quantity and their value. This has not been mentioned in the judgement," he said.
An official of another Goa-based firm said that the apex court has fixed a cap of 20 million tonnes on mining in the state but has not stated who will produce how much, neither it has directed any authority to decide that. "In this scenario, I don't know how much I will be producing."
The ban on production of iron ore in Goa and Karnataka had hit India's exports of the key steel-making ingredient.
The country, the third-largest iron ore exporter in the world in the not so distant past, exported 12.57 million tonnes during the April-February period of 2013-14 against 17.35 million tonnes in the same period of the previous financial year.
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