Goa's debt zooms to Rs 19,000 cr due to mining ban: GOMEA

The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA), a body representing mine owners, on Thursday said the state's debt has ballooned to around Rs 19,000 crore on account of mining coming to a halt and stressed on immediate resumption of mining in the coastal state.

Mining in Goa came to a halt in March 2018, after the Supreme Court quashed the renewal of 88 mining leases.

"The state's debt was between Rs 13,000-Rs 14,000 crore when mining was stopped. And today it has reached almost Rs 19,000 crore. In a small state like Goa... debt has increased in the last two years which really shows how mining has affected the state economy," GMOEA Secretary Sauvick Mazumdar told reporters here.

Stakeholders involved in machinery, logistics, ports, service sectors among others and most importantly the state and the centre have already lost revenue of approximately Rs 7,000 crore in the last two years of mining ban, he said.

"So overall it is a devastating effect on the economy. and that is why it is very important that it (mining) should be restarted," he explained.

After the restart it will be good for the state economy, he said adding that it will help three lakh people who are directly and indirectly dependent on mining.

"The mining stoppage in Goa had far-reaching and deeply disturbing socio-economic impacts. Earlier, mining contributed over 20-25 per cent to the state's economy. Today, post the mining halt, the economic contribution is zero per cent and liabilities are increasing day by day," GMOEA President Ambar Timblo said.

"We cannot overstate the urgency of restarting mining in the state.... We hope that the government, both at the centre and at the state level, which has been trying to address the issue would ensure that resumption of operations in Goa attains a higher priority," he explained.

The mining stoppage, has caused untold stress to the state's finances, to the families, to people's mental and community stability, eroded the livelihoods of over three lakh mining dependents, and turned a fairly prosperous state into a stagnant, impoverished, and sluggish economy, Timblo said.