Three years on, Goa's stalled mining sector still gathers rust

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SME Times News Bureau | 03 Feb, 2021
As Goa's stricken iron ore mining sector completes three years in a deathly slump on February 7, a collective of private sector mines workers and other industry-dependents now appear to be banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to resolve the ongoing deadlock.

Three BJP chief ministers -- namely late Manohar Parrikar, Laxmikant Parsekar and the latest incumbent Pramod Sawant -- have so far failed to resolve Goa's prolonged mining imbroglio, which began first with a Supreme Court ban on mining in 2012. In 2018, another apex court order had led to complete curtailment of fresh excavation of ore in Goa.

"We now urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his immediate intervention for resumption of mining in Goa, before Goa loses its fourth consecutive mining year due to the mining ban imposed by the apex court of India," president of the Goa Mining People's Front Puti Gaonkar has said.

While the state's mining sector contributed between 15 to 18 per cent of Goa's Gross Domestic Product at its peak in 2012, in the same year witnessed a series of events, beginning with the revelation of a Rs. 35,000 crore illegal mining scam by a judicial commission, led to the closure of the mining sector.

The mining scam became one of the key agendas of the 2012 state assembly elections, which resulted in the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power.

Months after taking charge, Parrikar ordered a temporary suspension of all mining activity in the state, pending verification of mining leases.

Days after Parrikar's decision, then Union Minister of State (Ind. charge) for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan cancelled all environment clearances granted to the 90-odd mining leases, before the Supreme Court in the same year imposed a ban on mining, while hearing a petition filed by Goa Foundation, one of the state's top green NGOs.

The mining sector resumed again in 2014 with a 20 million ton cap on extraction of ore, but came to a standstill once again in 2018, after the apex court found glaring irregularities in the lease renewal processes. This time the top court -- and later the Goa Lokayukta as well -- faulted then Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar for hurriedly renewing a majority of the mining leases without following due processes.

The apex court had also urged the state government to start the process for fresh allotment of leases, a step which the Goa government has still not adopted. The 2015 amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act mandates that iron ore leases should be mandatorily auctioned.

According to Claude Alvares, director of Goa Foundation, auctioning of the mining leases would be a faster way to resume mining in Goa, instead of scouting for a "legislative cure" to restart the sector, which Chief Minister Pramod Sawant as well as Bharatiya Janata Party's central leaders have insisting on.

"Second, since the stoppage of mining on 15 March 2018, over two and a half years have passed, and there has been absolutely no movement. Is a 'legislative cure' actually the quickest way to resume mining? Had the state government adopted either the auction or the state mining route, surely operations could have begun?" Alvares said, adding that going the auctioning route would also earn more revenue to the state exchequer.

"The iron ore lease auctions over 2015-2019 across India have resulted in a six-fold increase in the mineral sale proceeds," Alvares said.

Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap has blamed the BJP for the current mining impasse.
"The present economic chaos is basically because of late Manohar Parrikar's haughtiness and obstinacy in abruptly closing mining in Goa and later not opposing continuation of closure of mines in the Supreme Court and aggravating the misery by illegal renewal of 88 mining leases," said Khalap, a former Union Minister of State for Law.

While little has emerged by way of a political or a legislative solution to the crisis, the Supreme Court is currently hearing a review petition filed by the Goa government which has urged the apex court to take a relook at its 2018 order.