PANJIM: The Union Mines
Ministry has directed the Goa government to constitute a three member committee
to scrutinize pending iron ore mineral concession applications. There are three
applications pending before the State.
A circular issued to
Secretary Mines Manoj Sahoo states that as per the Mines and Minerals
Development Regulation (MMDR) amendment 2015, all applications for grant of
mineral concessions became ineligible on January 12, 2015 except those which were
saved under section 10A (2).
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“Section 10A (2) (b) of the
Amendment Act clearly states that before the commencement of the amendment, a
reconnaissance permit or prospecting licence has been granted in respect of any
land for any mineral, the permit holder or the licensee shall have a right for
obtaining a prospecting license followed by a mining lease, in respect of that
mineral in the land,” the Ministry said in its communication. “Decision on
these saved proposals to be taken at the earliest by this Ministry,” it added.
Speaking to Herald, Sahoo
confirmed that the Ministry has directed that a committee be constituted
comprising of Director of Mines, an official of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)
and Deputy Director General of Geological Survey of India (GSI) to scrutinize
the proposals before sending them to the Ministry.
“There are three such
proposals pending before the State; however, two are in legal battle,” he said
adding that ‘one case is pending before the Supreme Court since 1992 and
another case has an issue related to surface rights’.
“As such only one
application is mostly likely to be considered. It belongs to Zafar & Sons,”
Sahoo said. The government has already directed the applicant to submit a Digital
Global Positioning map of the lease area. “The same would be scrutinized and
sent to IBM for approval and then to the Union Ministry,” the IAS official
said.
The State has currently
allowed 89 mining lease to operate with an annual extraction limit of 15 million
tonnes. There are 349 non-working mining leases.
Apart from Goa, proposals
are also pending from States like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana
and Tamil Nadu.
