Team Herald
MARGAO: Stating that mining companies have no right to challenge double taxation on mining considering the immense profit they have made over the years, Goa Foundation has urged the Supreme Court that if the firms are not willing to contribute to the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund (GPF) then the government should take over leases and resume operations.
Five mining companies – Vedanta, Fomento, GN Agarwal, Geetabhai Parulekar and Prafulla Hede have filed interlocutory application (IA) before the Apex Court challenging the set up of the GPF on various grounds. The companies have pointed out that while the Apex Court judgment talks about contribution of 10 percent of sale price to the GPF, the Mines Act amended in 2015, has a provision for setting up District Mineral Foundations (DMF), with a contribution equal to that of royalty paid.
The applicants have stated that with the international price of iron ore having dropped, payments to the GPF and DMF would make mining unviable. The matter will come up for hearing on Tuesday.
Goa Foundation director Dr Claude Alvares has petitioned the Apex Court stating that if mining companies are not able to make their contributions to the GPF, the government should step in and resume the leases. “The ore is owned by the government in any case, on behalf of the public. Prior to 2004, when the mining boom commenced, most mines preferred to remain shut rather than sell ore at ridiculously low international prices,” Alvares said.
He said that the mining companies have made profits well beyond any reasonable measure from iron ore extraction belonging to the present and future generations of people living in Goa, with Vedanta’s profit being Rs 12,346 crore over nearly 8 years.
Pointing to the difference between the two, GF said that while DMF would provide for the expenditure related to rehabilitation of environment damage caused by mining activity, the GPF would deal with the requirement of meeting the demands of intergenerational equity, that is, the interests of future generations, not just the present.
