PM has promised quick resolution of Goa mining issue: BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar that the mining issue will be resolved in the next 2-3 months, a BJP leader said here today.

Parrikar had called on the prime minister and the Group of Ministers (GoM) on mining in Delhi yesterday.

He had requested an amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concessions (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, which will allow mining leases in the coastal state to remain operational till 2037.

The Goa Legislative Assembly had last week passed a resolution urging the Centre to suitably amend the Act.

BJP Goa spokesman Nilesh Cabral told reporters today that the PM showed a "keen interest" in resumption of iron ore mining in the coastal state.

"He (Modi) assured to find a solution to the issue within the next 2-3 months," said Cabral.

The state's mining sector has been shut since March 16 this year after the Supreme Court, through an order in February, cancelled 88 leases and banned the extraction of fresh ore.

Cabral said the Goa government had made a presentation before the Group of Ministers (GoM) which was constituted with an objective to resolve the mining-related issues in the country.

"The GoM is convinced that the Goa mining issue is different from rest of the country and has agreed to help out the state," he said.

Cabral said Goa will constitute a team comprising the chief minister and the MLAs from the mining belt for taking follow-up of the issue with the Centre.