Goa mulling possibility of lifting suspension on mining

Official says govt is screening validity of its order ahead of SC hearing on the matter

Goa government is contemplating the possibility of lifting the suspension order issued to all working mining leases in the state, top officials said.

However, state Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar refused to comment on it.

A senior state mines and geology department official yesterday said the Goa government is screening the legal validity of its order ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the mining petition on August 29.

However, reacting to a question on the state government's plans to withdraw the order suspending the operations of all the mining leases, Parrikar today said, "You will be informed if we do it. We will speak only when we do it."

The Goa government had on September 9 last year suspended all the mining leases, pending legal scrutiny following Justice M B Shah commission's report exposing illegal mining in the state.

After the government's order suspending the mining leases, the apex court had imposed temporary ban on extraction and export of the ore from the state, asking Central Empowered Committee to probe the charges of illegality.

As the situation in the state's mining belt remains grim, the state government has now decided to lift the suspension order it had issued.

The state had 90 working mining leases when the suspension was issued by the state government.

Goa, the largest exporter of iron ore in the country, had exported 53 million metric tonnes of ore in 2011-12 before the industry faced closure.