PANJIM: In a major relief, the Supreme Court, hearing the Goa illegal mining case, has allowed the transfer of revenue, generated through e-auction of iron ore, to the State exchequer instead of towards ad-hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) in a separate account.
Through e-auction of around 11 million tonnes of ore, Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) earned approximately Rs 1075 crore. Of this, around Rs 200 crore will be paid as expenditure toward the Supreme Court monitoring committee and Mormugao Port Trust, while another 15 percent will be deposited in the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund.
The balance of around Rs 770 crore, which was to be deposited towards CAMPA, as per the Apex Court’s earlier judgment, will now be transferred to the State.
Senior Counsel Adv Atmaram Nadkarni, appearing on behalf of Goa, argued that the revenue generated should be retained by the State. “The Supreme Court agreed to retain the revenue to State, after all the necessary deductions,” Nadkarni confirmed to Herald.
Of the 15.5 million tonnes of ore identified for e-auction by the Apex Court, DMG has so far managed to auction 11.7 tonnes through 21 e-auctions since February 2014. However, with falling international prices, coupled with taxation, the process is receiving a poor response.
Meanwhile, the Union Mines Ministry has sought four weeks to study the proposed increase in annual ore production cap for Goa from the current 20 million tonnes. The matter will be heard on October 26. “On behalf of the Union Mines Ministry, I have sought four weeks time to study the same,” Nadkarni, Additional Solicitor General of India, said.
With the Expert Committee in its final report recommending enhancing fresh ore production cap to 30 million tonnes and further 38 million tonnes on augmentation of required infrastructure by the State government, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider increasing the annual production limit.
