Goa announces policy to regulate dumps of rejected iron ore

Goa Chief minister Manohar Parrikar announced a policy today to regulate dumps of rejected iron ore, by charging a certain fee on the amount of land on which these have piled up for over two decades.
Parrikar said almost 10 per cent of the ore lying in these dumps could be exported.
Goa government has decided to levy a fee of Rs 120 per square of land occupied by the rejected iron ore dumps in private areas while Rs 220 per square metre would be charged for those on revenue land.
Such a policy would ensure that iron ore dumps lying idle are linked to the mining lease and only mining lease-holders are able to apply for conversion of the land to ensure that the ore can be accounted for.

Parrikar said the land use fee upto the last 20 years should be paid to the government while five years would be given to the applicant to clear the dump and restore the land to originality.
The state government expects to earn revenue of Rs 300 crore from this initiative, he claimed.