Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today claimed that the State has recovered Rs 1487.91 crore from the mine owners in the form of e-auctioning of ore and royalth payment on the ore.
Parrikar was replying on the floor of the House to the Cut Motions moved by Opposition benches for the Demand for Grants of Mining department.
“The total loss estimated due to illegal mining by Public Accounts committee is Rs 4000 crore, and by a panel of Chartered Account is Rs 1508.59 crore, while Comptroller Auditor General has pegged it to Rs 1,922 crore,” the chief minister said.
He said that these figures are different as they are estimated by the agencies as per their findings.
Parrikar said that government has recovered Rs 1487.91 crore from the mine owners, which includes Rs 1042.46 crore from e-auctioning, and Rs 445.44 Crore is the royalty and other payments.
Responding to the demand to resume mining industry in the State, Parrikar said that the current crisis on the iron ore extraction industry cannot be solved by Goa government. “To solve the issue, we will have to take it up to the centre,” he added.
The chief minister said that the only solution, we can see currently is amending Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concessions (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987 in the Parliament.
Parrikar said that the resolution would be moved in Goa Legislative Assembly requesting the Union government to amend the act.
Speaker Pramod Sawant said that the resolution would be adopted on August 3, the last day of the monsoon session.’
“I would like to hear from all the MLAs on this proposal,” he said adding that post assembly session, he would be travelling to Delhi with the resolution. “The Congress should also support us at the centre to pass this amendment on the floor of the House,” he said.
