19-feb-2013 … The goa state Congress party on Tuesday demanded that the 96 iron ore mining leases in Goa should be auctioned, instead of being merely renewed, in the spirit of an apex court judgment in the 2G scam trial, which makes a case for auctioning of national resources.
Goa has 336 mining leases spread across the hinterland out of which nearly 100 were operational until the ban came into effect in October 2012. All the operational mining leases are renewable after a period of 20 years.
Addressing a press conference at the party head office state Congress spokesperson Sudip Tamankar said that the state coffers, which have been strained due to the ban on mining would earn over Rs 300 lakh crore over 20 years of the lease period and therefore all the 96 mining leases should be auctioned on the lines of the telecom spectrum auction so that Goa stands to benefit financially.
Sudip further said that the auctioning of the mining leases would not only ensure that Goa ensures a hefty sum in its coffers, but also break the monopoly of four to five mining companies which have been controlling open cast iron ore mining in Goa for decades now.
