TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goan mine owners, and the government too is waiting for a Supreme Court decision on a petition to set aside the Goa Abolition Act 1987, which would give all leases the status of concessions. This, according to Mines Director Prasanna Acharya, would give them life-long permissions.
Notwithstanding the complex web of circumstances which will determine the actual renewal of mining in Goa, the Goa government actually seems to be hoping for a verdict in favour of the petitioner Anil Salgaocar, who has been at the receiving end of the scrutiny of the Mines Department as well as by central agencies. The Special Leave Petition filed by mine owner Salgaocar, has challenged the Union government’s Abolition Act that converted all the concessions into mining leases.
“If the Supreme Court terms Abolition Act as violative of the Constitution then the leases would be considered as concession, giving them life-long permissions,” Acharya told
media persons this morning.
Goa’s Principal Secretary (mines) Pawan Kumar Sain said that state has so far renewed total 88 mining leases, which have no implications of ordinance. He said that all the leases were renewed before commencement of the ordinance on January 12, 2015.
“Hence, all the mining leases in Goa are valid upto 2027,” Sain added.
What Sain did not say was that 44 of these leases were renewed after January 5, when the cabinet finalised the ordinance and whose contents were known to the Goa government.
Later in the second session, the mine owners including Shivanand Salgaocar and Ambar Timblo raised certain queries and also placed certain suggestions, including that the period of mining leases, both captive and non-captive mine, be extended up to a period ending on March 31, 2030. The ordinance currently restricts the lease life period of captive mines up to March 31, 2030 while for non-captive mines till March 31, 2020.
“The right of first refusal at the time of auction after the expiry of the extended lease period may also be made available to both captive as well as non-captive mines uniformly,” Salgaocar said.
In yet another query raised by Timblo, the Union Mines Ministry clarified that with the new law coming in force, there is complete ban on transfer of mining leases so also that the legal heir or the successor, cannot form a new company to run the lease, or transfer it. “If they are not in position to run the mining lease, then they should surrender it,” Sridharan said adding that the transfer of lease is allowed only in case of auctioned leases.
