He said that since the major demand of the ore went to China in the past, he questioned whether the same would be possible now since mining was banned in the State.
“The major demand comes from China and the problem is such that you are not able to sell it to them. Goa’s ore cannot be consumed locally but has to be exported to other countries. So while it is good news that mining will resume in October, there also needs to be an alternative found as to where we will be exporting the ore to,” he said.
Rane pointed to years ago when mining was the major revenue generator for the State and how many people had invested in the industry buying trucks and setting up small businesses. Around 70,000 people were directly employed in mines and with mining companies, he said, while several others were indirectly dependent on it too.
