PANJIM: The Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG), is expected to issue orders for renewal of first three, then 10 and then eight mining leases from Wednesday, officials said, even as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar heads for Delhi to hold discussions with union ministers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on various issues including mining.
Sources also indicated that the draft of the ‘The Goa Grant of Mining Leases Policy, 2014,’ signed by all cabinet ministers, has ruled out the auctioning route for mining leases and opted for renewing the same under section 8(3) of the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act 1957. The draft was moved to the law department for legal vetting, following approval from Cabinet on October 1.
A senior official confirmed that there are no changes in the final policy and that the leases would be renewed under Section 8(3) of the MMDR Act on a case-to-case basis, in the best interests of mineral development. “The final copy, following legal vetting, has already been circulated to all ministers, who have informally approved it,” official said.
The government in its policy has classified 90-odd mining leases, operational prior to suspension in September 2012, into three categories: 1) mines that have no violations or minimal violations; 2) Mines indicted for violation of rule 37 and 38 of MCR; 3) Major violators. In the first phase, mines under the first category will be considered for renewal.
Official said that post suspension of mining operation, a total of 40 applications were received by DMG for renewal of leases, of which only 28 paid the stamp duty. “Of these, a total of 13 cases have been cleared by the government and the lease renewal order of the same would be issued from Wednesday,” the official said.
Post renewal, the lessees will have to apply for environment clearance (ECs) from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), which have been currently placed under suspension. The SC that is hearing the illegal mining case had termed mining operations on a deemed provision post 2007 as “illegal” and had directed the State to draft a policy for granting mining leases as per law.
