Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has ruled out auctioning of mining leases and approved on Wednesday a policy for renewal of iron ore leases by exercising powers under Section 8(3) of the Mines and Mineral Regulation and Development (MMRD) Act, 1957.
According to the policy, mining leases of those who have paid stamp duty will be renewed. The leases should also be cleared by probe reports. Auctioning of leases is not a route prescribed in the MMRD Act, he said.
The government intends to renew immediately those of the leases with no or minimal violations. As for those which have paid stamp duty but have been found to have violated the provisions of Mineral Concession Rules, the State government will take a call. Those found with substantial violations of various laws and regulations will face rejection of renewal claim.
The State government decided to go by a recent order of the Bombay High Court at Goa, which directed it to renew the leases of 27 lease-holders who had deposited stamp duty. The anti-mining group of Goa Foundation has already questioned this move in the Supreme Court as the government is yet to act against many of these for their previous violations.
Mr. Parrikar said that the order of the High Court was subject to conditions laid down by the Supreme Court and the directions contained therein would bind the State government. As such, the government felt it futile to challenge the order of the High Court as that would only further delay the operations of mining.
Mr. Parrikar, however, believes that the actual mining operations could begin by January 2015 considering the low global ore prices prevailing at present.
While striking down the deemed renewal of mining leases as illegal, the Supreme Court had, in its order in May this year, partially relaxed its October 2012 order banning entire mining activity in the State and instead allowed extraction with a cap of 20 million tonnes per annum and under a comprehensive State policy. The State government has since been under tremendous pressure from mining companies and mining dependents to resume the mining which is grounded for over two years.
