01 Dec 2020  |   06:01am IST

State has three options including auction for mining: CM

Mining meet with GMOEA inconclusive; Sawant says his concern is not mine owners but people dependent on mining

Team Herald

PANJIM: Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Monday said there were three options for the resumption of mining in the State, which include abolition of MMDR Act, auction and forming a mining corporation.

After his meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi in Delhi, Sawant on Monday held deliberations with Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association on the way out for early mining resumption.

“We discussed the options like abolition act, auction and the mining corporation to find a legal way out.  Supreme Court petitions are one way out but apart from that we discussed other ways for early resumption of mining,” he said.

Sawant said the next meeting will be in Delhi with the Mines Minister and ASG and GMOEA will also be present. “We have three options which were also deliberated in meetings with Home Minister and Mines Minister in Delhi,” he said.

He added, “We hope that the Centre will soon make an amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu (Abolition and Declaration of Mining Leases) Act (Abolition Act), 1987 to pave way for resumption of mining activity. Mining concessions in the State were granted much before of its Liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961. These concessions were converted into mining leases through the amendment to the Abolition Act, 1987.” 

The State government is of the opinion the leases should be deemed to have been granted in 1987 and have a tenure of 50 years, like any other leases under the amended MMDR Act, 2015, he said.

The Chief Minister said that his concern is not mine owners but the people dependent on mining. “I am not concerned about the mine owners. I want early resumption of mining for the people who depend on mining so that their work starts,” he said.   

Meanwhile, the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association said, "We are awaiting a joint meeting being scheduled by the union of India with the state government and the industry in order to find a legally prudent solution post considering legal and technical aspects of Goa Mining."