Goa loses Rs 800 crore in revenue due to mining closure

The Goa government has taken a hit of Rs 800 crore so far this fiscal to its treasury due to the closure of mining activity in the state, a senior official said today.

"We are going through a hard phase. We have taken a big hit after the closure of mining activity," state Chief Secretary B Vijayan told a gathering of bankers in Panaji today.

"The total impact on the state's treasury due to mining closure is Rs 800 crore," he said, adding that 20 per cent of state's revenue resources are generated from the mining activity.

The state had to postpone few of its expenditures for next fiscal due the shortfall in revenue collection, he said.

The targeted revenue collection was to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore in the form of royalty from mining exports, but so far we have realised only Rs 350 crore resulting in a shortfall of Rs 650 crore, he said.

Addressing the state credit seminar organised by NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), he said the state has witnessed a huge hit due to closure of the mining activity.

"We are also witnessing the fallout of the mining closure in the form of lesser Value Added Tax (VAT) collections," Vijayan said.

The extraction and transportation of ore was halted in the state in September last year by Supreme Court pending report from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

Vijayan said the state has been able to off-set the effects of the revenue collection dip by injecting some prudent expenditure management practices to tide over the crisis.

"We have succeeded in cutting down wasteful expenditure, while some is postponed for next fiscal," the chief secretary said.

The state government has tried to plug leakages on the expenditure and revenue side. "The e-governance in the tendering process has also yielded results, with all the tenders being quoted below the estimated price," he added.

Projecting that during the next fiscal expenditure will remain same, he said the state government is looking out for alternate sources of generating revenue.

"While doing this, we will also make sure that major economic activity is not affected," he added.