Miners seek cap at 45-50 mn tonnes

Stakeholders in Goa mining industry barring the mine-owners have urged a visiting Supreme Court appointed expert panel here to cap the annual iron ore extraction from the state between 45-50 million tonnes. During the last financial year, the state mined about 11 million tonnes prior to the ban in September 2012.

The six-member expert panel which is in Goa to conduct a macro environment impact assessment (EIA) study on what should be the ceiling of annual excavation, held a meeting here yesterday with the mining stakeholders including Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA), truck owners, barge owners, machinery owners and labour unions. However, the body representing mine owners which met the experts at the Secretariat refused to give any figures and have reserved their opinion on quantum of ore to be capped.

Sesa Goa's Managing Director P K Mukherjee who was the part of crucial close-door meeting, said they have no specific recommendation on cap or ceiling of annual iron ore extraction but want SC to look into all the aspects like infrastructure, resources for future generation and economy of people dependent on the business, as all are inter-related. Let the expert committee decide on capping, he said. The mining industry in Goa has been hit since September 2012 after the SC imposed a ban on any fresh extraction in the state besides exports. The other stakeholders, however, have opined that the capping should be between 45-50 million tonnes.

They feel that capping at lower ebb would spell doom for the industry which is a major source of state revenue. "We require a volume of 50 million tonnes cargo for export to survive, otherwise the barge industry would be not viable. Export is must for the state livelihood. We have also demanded immediate resumption of the business," All Goa Barge Owners Association Vice President Chandrakant Gawas said.

There are around three hundred barges with 6,000 crew members owning a loan liability of Rs 360 crore in the state.