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PANJIM: After 18 months and a few last minutes hitches, the first consignment of 71,500 metric tons of iron ore is all set to leave Goa port with the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) issuing a no objection certificate (NOC) to Singapore-based Bagadiya Brothers Pvt Ltd .
The company is one amongst the successful bidders who had purchased the ore during the Supreme court authorised e-auction of Goan ore.
With the NOC, the ore is being uploaded onto Jindal Varad, a bulk carrier docked at berth number 9 of Mormugao Port Trust. The carrier is bound for China and would leave for that country any time now.
This will be the first iron ore export from Goa since September 2012, when the state government through an overnight order had banned mining activities in the state. The order was followed by Supreme Court ban on October 5, 2012.
A senior Mines Department official confirmed that the NOC, which was revoked earlier after the bidder apparently gave some information that had inaccuracies, has been issued Saturday evening following which the loading of ore on the vessel has begun. It is for the company now to decide when to export the ore, officials said.
The Bagadiya Brothers had initially sought NOC for export of ore to Singapore. The royalty and export challan were issued for exporting the ore to Singapore. However, the bidder later decided to export the same to China, which was not informed to the DMG. MPT has already received the bank guarantee of Rs 16 crore from the bidder.
The next assignment is slated to be shipped on April 5, 2014, officials informed.
The state government has already issued notification expressing interest to start the transportation of the ore which was e-auctioned immediately. Barge owners, truck contractors are been directed to registered with the department for transportation. The state government has auctioned nearly 1.60 million metric tons of ore so far.