Mining boom and closure both affected State: Shetye

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: It is the suddenness of the boom as well as of the stoppage of mining that has magnified the impact on the state, Vice Chancellor of Goa University Dr S R Shetye said on Saturday. 

Speaking after chairing the round table discussion with industry captains organized by the Goa Institute of Management Dr Shetye said that factor like the sudden mining boom which saw that infrastructure was remaining inadequate as well as the sudden stoppage resulting from the government ban has caused hardships to the Goan populace. 

“During the boom time there was a sudden influx of funds that led to deterioration of societal values while on the other side there was a sudden stop leading to revenue losses for government, one which will have an incremental effect in the years to come,” Dr Shetye said. 

He however chose to highlight the deficiency of information that is available with the industry and in the public domain both about the environmental cost of mining as well as quantification the ban. 

“I would like to know details like how the sale of diesel has gone down in these four mining talukas. How the mining has affected a person like a grocer and his earnings in these areas,” Dr Shetye said adding that there is a lot of scope for this to be done on a large scale. 

He also questioned the absence of an alternative source of industry even as he said whether the alternative is acceptable and attractive to the state. 

Earlier a study done by professors of the Goa Institute of Management pegged the total loss of revenue to the state including royalty, VAT, and other taxes at Rs 1,326 crore and the total hit to the state’s GDP at Rs 8,703 crore. 

Present at the conference were JC Almeida, IAS (Retd), Ambar Timblo, MD, Fomento Resources Ltd, A N Joshi, VP, Corporate Affairs, Sesa Goa Limited, Adv Cleofato Almeida Coutinho, Member of Law commission Goa, G Kumar, Conservator of Forests, Fr Romuald D’Souza, Founder, GIM, Dr Sunil Rai, Director, GIM and professors from the institute.