The Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said in the Assembly that only nine cases of illegal mining are being investigated by the Special Investigation Team constituted for the purpose. He said these cases would be fact tracked
At the same time he informed the House that his government would issue notice to 42 companies to recover the losses accrued due to mining, within one month
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He also said that the government was exploring various alternatives to resume legal mining activities in the State at the earliest- CM Dr Pramod Sawan
Incidentally, the Enforcement Directorate had issued summons against as many as 16 firms in 2014, in a money laundering case, related to purported illegal mining. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a money laundering case in the which was investigated by the M B Shah Commission for alleged large scale irregularities.
The ED had registered a complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of the reports of the Commission and also an FIR of the Goa police Crime Branch filed last year in August.
The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by ED which has the same status as an FIR named some 80 companies have involved in mining in the State.
Much earlier, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), led by leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar, had found that almost half of the active iron ore mines in the state were illegal and have caused an estimated loss of Rs 3,000 crore to the exchequer since 2005. This report was not formally tabled due to technicalities. The then Congress government was severely indicted in the report.
