From March 16 onwards, 88 mining leases will have to stop operations as per the latest Supreme Court judgment. The highest court has quashed the second renewals granted to these leases. With the order, the biggest question arises as to who will be the owner of the iron ore, that will be lying at the lease areas- which the lessees have to vacate as per the Apex Court directions.
While the government claims the lease holder will be owner of the ore, the Goa Foundation, the petitioner before Supreme Court, maintain the Government holds the right over the ore, post March 15.
Moreover, there is another four million tons of ore, belonging to Government, as per 2014 Supreme Court verdict, awaiting e-auction, and another one million tons of e-auctioned ore yet to be transported from the site.
Only half of the total mines which were granted second renewal by the State Government were in operation from September 2015 till date and were involved in extraction of 40 million tons of fresh ore of which only 50 percent was exported, while the balance still continues to be either at lease site, beneficiary plants or jetties.
After a 19-month long ban between September 2012-April 2014, the mining industry resumed in Goa at a very slow note in September 2015. By then, the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) had granted second renewals to 88 mining leases with a cap of 20 million tons on annual fresh production.
As per the information, total 47 mines of the total 88 renewed are in operation till date, who extracted 40 million tons of ore by January 2018 end.
“From March 16 onwards, Government becomes the owner of the lease and the material lying at the sites. Mining leases have no right over the material, since Apex Court has termed their activities illegal,” Goa Foundation director Dr Claude Alvares said.
“Government has to take the call on the ore, which will be left behind by the lease holders. If you want to go for auction of the leases, then you need to have material on ground to attract bidders,” Alvares explains.
The petitioner explains the Supreme Court order is with retrospective effect and hence from 2007 till date, whatever is extracted by the firms and lying at the sites, becomes government property.
However, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, while speaking to HERALD earlier, said that the ore belongs to the lessees. Though, he did not elaborate anything further.
However, Chief Minister is keen to e-auction the balance four million tons of ore, which is lying at the leases since September 2012. “I will auction the said ore and transport it thereby keeping the industry alive till May end,” he had said.
Goa has nearly 750 million ton of ore lying in form of dumps, these are basically the rejects, the middle grade ore, which had no demand in the international market all these years.
