After ruling the state’s economic scene for almost four decades, the crisis-ridden mining industry has surrendered its position as the backbone of the State due to falling revenue collection from it. All thanks to the 2012 Supreme Court ban on the industry and the falling demand for low grade iron ore in the international market.
As per the information available from the Government, since 2015-16, till date (March 11), Government has earned a mere Rs 1243.54 crore revenue from the sector, of which only the 50 per cent is royalty, which was once accounting for nearly thousand crores annually. The total fresh production during the period stood at 37.11 million tons with 20 million annual capping.
For the current financial year, till March 8, the total revenue generation from mining was around Rs 476.70 crore, of which 246.73 crore is from royalty payment, while the production is 10.19 million tons.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, too, is on record to State that the mining industry’s contribution towards State revenue is merely 300-400 crores annually since 2015.
Of the total Rs 1243.54 crore revenue generated by the industry; royalty contributes Rs 637.85 crore, Rs 417.37 crores is towards Goa iron ore permanent fund (GIOPF), Rs 176.62 crore is deposited under district mineral fund (DMF) and another Rs 11.70 crore is towards national mineral exploration trust (NMET). As such, only Rs 637.85 crores goes to State treasury directly.
The iron ore export from Goa, one of the leading exporter of the mineral until 2012, witnessed a tremendous decline. In the three years, the export was around 20 million tons.
Following the Justice MB Shah Commission of Inquiry report on illegal mining that exposed a Rs 35,000 crore scam in the sector, the Supreme Court imposed ban on mining related activities in the State in October 2012. The ban remained in force for nearly 19 months before it was lifted in April 2014, with several restrictions and annual cap on production.
However, it took another 18 months for the industry to commence activities, with first mining resuming in November 2015. The 2015-16 FY saw, only 7.2 million tons production, which however, took pace in 2016-17 with 19.9 million tons.
By the time, the iron ore industry revamped itself, its oldest international market China was captured by other low grade supplying countries like Australia and Brazil. Moreover, in the later stage, China even declined the use of low grade ore, forcing Goa to look out for new markets.
