The mining business in Goa which had commenced after a long break, giving some relief to the hundreds of truck owners, who had invested their fortune into it, has once again came to an end with the order of Supreme court slapped on the miners saying that all the permits of Mining in Goa will be ceased to exist from 15th March 2018, the petitioner informed the news agency Reuter over the phone from outside the court…
According to the Reuters, India’s Apex Court has quashed all the iron ore mining permits in Goa, one of the country’s top producing states for the steelmaking raw material. The petition in this regards was filed by an environmental group from Goa headed by environmentalist Claude Alvares.
Mining in the southwestern state of Goa, which produces low-quality iron ore, will stop after March 15 and the government will need to issue new licenses, Claude Alvares, who heads the environmental group Goa Foundation, told Reuters by telephone from outside the court in New Delhi. “From the 16th of next month, mining companies in the state will be bereft of any leases,” said Alvares, who was in the court when the judgment was read out. “They are back to zero. Ownership is back to the government. They will have to auction the leases.” Reuters has not reviewed a copy of the court’s ruling, which is yet to be published on its website. Prashant Bhushan, the lawyer for the Goa Foundation, confirmed the ruling on his verified account on Twitter. “Kudos to Supreme Court for canceling all 88 iron ore mining leases,” he wrote.
According to the reports, the present ban will also affect the Billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources, one of the biggest miners in the state. It may be recalled that the Court action against illegal mining had shut down the industry in Goa for more than two years from 2012. Goa had exported about 50 million tonnes of iron ore a year before the ban was imposed. The Supreme Court later limited production in the state to 20 million tonnes a year. The latest ban would affect not only Vedanta but also several small unlisted companies run by local business families. A Vedanta spokeswoman said, “it would be inappropriate to comment without reading the judgment copy”.
Vedanta expected to produce around 5.5 million tonnes of iron ore from Goa this fiscal year ending March 31. India’s iron ore production totaled 192 million tonnes during the last fiscal year. Most of Goa’s iron ore is exported to China as Indian steel companies do not have the technology to process it.
Meanwhile the CM of Goa Mr. Manohar Parrikar has asserted in the press conference that this ban will not last more than 6 months and he will make sure that the mining will commence again soon, but according to the sources, these promises are made by BJP leader right from the year 2012. What you have to say on this? Please share your valuable comments on this serious issue…
SOURCE: VARIOUS SOURCES
