The arrival of Mr Nitin Gadkari to intervene in Goa’s mining crisis on Tuesday is in itself, an admission that the State, sans its Chief Minister, is virtually and literally at the mercy of the Centre, to decide, not the fate of, but the future long term roadmap of Goa’s mining.
This itself is a flagging of Goa’s helplessness. Undoubtedly a series of poor mining governance and lack of clarity on whether the government itself pushed for second renewals of leases, and the inability to push back, delay and rethink on the auction route of mining, have cumulatively come back to hurt the sector, with the ultimate loser being the actual mining dependent.
Meanwhile the Advocate General of the State, Dattaprasad Lawande, will have to live with his opinion that mining “largesse” should not be given to existing mining leases, but is he or anyone in the State actually prepared to welcome an auction route which will get in major steel and coal magnates to enter iron ore mining in Goa.
It is clear that in the world of profit maximisation, Prime Minister Modi and principal planner and trouble shooter Nitin Gadkari, whose influence and writ runs large in Goa, see nothing beyond the auction route. Ironically, that is the route the AG too has opined. But is that the only option left for Goa? Can Goa comfortably allow the mining landscape to be taken over by big time outstation players with power and influence in the Central government, which is beyond the reach of most State governments?
While there can be no denying that the mining landscape needs to be cleaned and rejuvenated, a debate is needed on whether Goans want mining auctions leading to mammoth companies from outside of Goa taking over like Bhushan Steel, Essar, JSW. Taking nothing away from the capacity of these companies, Goa needs to, at the very least, introspect if they will do sustainable mining and give back to the State in terms of both royalty as well as protection of the landscape.
When the mining stake holders, the GMOEA and all political parties meet Nitin Gadkari due to a position of importance he has been given by the Modi government, the narrative that auctioning mines as the first option is not a good idea must come through. The control of mining after the landscape has been cleared, and losses due to illegal mining recovered, should not go into hands we are unsure of. And why should the PSU/Government controlled mining be completely discarded without actually studying its benefits?
Meanwhile Minister Gadkari, who is steadfast about taking the auction route should come with an open mind and allow the existing MMDR Act which governs Goa’s mining be the foundation of all decision making or discussions. One must remember that there are a large number of ground realities and sentiments attached to Goa’s mining and hence it cannot be subjected to final orders by Delhi.
A combination of an open mind by the minister and cogent arguments in favour of sustainable mining with Goa’s long term interests at heart, post the clean up, will work.
