Goa to shut loan settlement scheme for mining dependents

Goa government has decided to wind up its ambitious scheme providing one-time settlement of bank loans of people dependent on iron ore mining industry, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said.
The scheme will be wind up tomorrow due to poor response from borrowers, who have piled up huge loan liabilities in different national and cooperative banks, Parsekar told PTI.
The government's decision to shut the scheme will enable banks and financial institutions to freeze collateral sureties, including trucks, owned by the defaulters.
The decision to close the scheme was taken during a recent meeting with bankers which was chaired by Parsekar.

The scheme was launched in September 2014, two years after the iron ore industry was shut down following a Supreme Court order, in view of illegal mining activities.
Parsekar said 3,978 mining-dependent people benefited from the scheme and availed the subsidy of Rs 80 crore.

Following constant demand from the mining dependents, the scheme was extended three times since its inception by the state government.
When the scheme was extended last time in November 2015, "there were no fresh applications received from the borrowers," the Chief Minister said.
Parsekar said winding up of the scheme is unlikely to affect the mining dependents as iron ore extraction and export activity has already begun in the coastal state.

As per the debt relief scheme, a subsidy upto 35 per cent on the total loan settlement amount is provided.
The banks and financial institutions are granting waiver of 100 per cent loan interest from September 2012, 40 per cent waiver on principle loan amount for trucks owners and 30 per cent to barge owners.