Chartered accountants to assess mining losses: Parrikar

Panaji, April 24 (IANS) Chartered accountants have been roped in to assess the fiscal extent of Goa's iron ore mining scam, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said here Wednesday.

"The assessment of production export vis-a-vis royalty collection is proposed to be allotted to a team of chartered accountants, so that any shortfall of revenue can be ascertained and recovered," Parrikar told the state assembly.

He was responding to Congress party legislator Atanasio Monserrate during the question hour.

The chartered accountants would function under a special committee headed by a high court judge. They would "verify" the findings of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission, which exposed a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam in the state.

Parrikar has already hinted that the state government-appointed committee may take about two years to complete the assessment.

Mining in Goa has been banned by the Supreme Court since October last year, bringing to a halt all related activity, including transportation of already mined ore.

The ban was imposed by the apex court on the basis of a petition filed the Goa Foundation, a green NGO, represented by senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan.