Forget Gujarat, mining sector wants Orissa model
As his term reaches the clear definite business end, the coming few weeks will be Manohar Parrikar’s busiest work weeks. This is probably the most crucial phase of the Chief Minister’s term when decisions if not calibrated will go horribly wrong.
The big elephant in the room is mining and this time the elephant is not the mining affected workers but the shut mining companies. If we keep the sustained banter, some right, some certainly not, on whether miners deserve a place to walk on the same earth as others who are protecting it, aside, then hear it. 28 mining companies who have paid their stamp duties for their lease renewals, are in that room saying that that as per the mining policy notified, their leases need to be renewed for work to begin.
Manohar Parrikar is in the same room with many copies of the Supreme Court order , where lease operations were declared illegal by the Supreme Court which also allowed the government of Goa to take its decision on the manner in which such leases will be renewed. In the middle of this the quick silver Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has allowed Tata Steel and SAIL to re-start operations at their captive iron ore mines in Orissa. Seven out of 26 mines that had to close down after Supreme Court order on May 16, 2014 which banned operations in mines working in second deemed lease renewals, have been allowed to restart.
The entire process of granting approval for lease renewal was fast tracked by the Orissa government to minimise disruption of mining activities and royalty losses.
While the Supreme Court had asked the Orissa government to issue proper lease renewal orders within six months, no such time frame was given to Goa. However mining majors are claiming very strongly that the ground realities in both states are absolutely identical and operations in mines working on deemed renewals were banned in Orissa.
In the next week some Writs of Mandamus filed before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court by mining companies will be heard with the single plea across all petitions, that mining must be allowed to start. At the same time, the legal challenges from the same quarter, the petitioner in the Goa Mining case, Goa Foundation will keep mounting. The Foundation has already written to the government to “recover mining losses” during the period in which mining operations have been termed illegal and is pressing for mining to be done by a government corporation.
For the Chief Minister, his relationship with the industry that has sustained many governments and this state is at the cross roads. Mining companies will be expected to take a far more aggressive line knowing there is nothing more to lose. That is when we will see a period where the thick kid gloves will be off and majors will be fighting with their bare hands, especially after the fillip they feel the Orissa government has given industry there. Yes, the proverbial fists will really be free.
The Goa Chief Minister needs to take this industry into confidence and chalk out a clear road map. if there is a deviation from its earlier policy, the stakeholders need to be involved. But the suspicion is that the industry isn’t willing to wait. With every decision impacting not just companies but livelihoods and economy, this will over shadow all other issues for the next three months.
