Gifted Rs 70,000 cr to State: Goa Foundation

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The Goa Foundation has given the State of Goa a gift of nearly Rs 70,000 crore, Claude Alvares claimed, asserting that the onus is now on the State government to recover that money responsibly on behalf of the exchequer. 

In a statement issued a day after the historic Supreme Court verdict on Goa mining, Alvares said that the government could consider attaching the assets of mining companies if they refuse to pay up. 

“The declaration that the mining was illegal from 2007, leaves the door open for proceedings for recovery of some Rs 30,000 crores from the lease-holders since the ore was illegally mined,” Alvares said. 

To get an idea of the quantum of the money it works out to approximately Rs 2 lakh per person residing in Goa, and works out to three times the state’s annual budget, three times the state’s debt, which can be written off in one shot if the State government is serious. 

“It can attach Sesa Ghor and Cidade de Goa and other real estate from the mining companies to recover the money. Besides the Rs 30,000 crore from illegal mining over five years, it also has to recover Rs 35,000 crore as per the Shah Commission’s findings mining outside lease areas, which has been accrued through mining outside of lease areas. 

This is in addition to the sale proceeds from the disposal of inventories of 15 million tonne ore which is being presently e-auctioned. All this money which has been awarded to the State of Goa, works out to Rs 4,500 crore.

“Together with the Rs 30,000 crores and the Rs 35,000 (from Justice Shah), we are talking of some Rs 70,000 crore worth of illegal mining, which is 16 years revenue of the Goa government! And there are still people who want to abuse the role and work of the Goa Foundation,” Alvares said.