Panjim: While the BJP led State, government is trying to maintain the hopes of mining dependents high by promising to amend existing laws for resumption of mining, a meeting conveyed by Principal Secretary Mines to discuss auctioning of leases as per MMDR guidelines on February 12, have raised eyebrows.
It is important to note the Government has already in the past, on several occasion during Union Mines Ministry’s Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) meetings, informed that not a single mining lease is available for auction in 2020. Now the question arises whether the meeting is a step towards auctioning those 88 mining leases, whose second renewals were quashed and set aside by the Supreme Court in February, last year.
The non-captive mining leases under Section 8A (6) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR) will expire on March 31, 2020. Centre has already directed mineral rich States to initiate process for auction of leases, expiring in 2020 by July, this year.
Deputy Director Mines Neha Panvelkar in a note circulated has said the Principal Secretary Mines has convened a meeting of Goa State Geological Programming Board on February 12, to discuss the matter on formation of blocks for auctioning in view of the MMDR Act, 2015.
The meeting will also discuss the matter related to exploration of areas based on the order of Supreme Court dated February 7, 2018. It will also discuss exploration of areas after the expiry of mining leases on March 31, 2020.
State Government in their submission before the Union Mines Ministry’s CEC meeting held in October, last year, had said that there are total 184 non-working mines however; none are available for auction in 2020. “Total mining leases that stand valid up to 2020 are 184,” the government had said.
Supreme Court has directed the State to initiate fresh process for granting iron ore leases; while it has also granted relaxation that the method need not be only auction.
Government has been making various efforts to ensure that the life of those 88 leases are extended upto 2037 via an amendment to MMDR Act. However, it has borne no fruit so far.
