The Goa government has decided to wind up its ambitious scheme of providing one-time settlement of bank loans to people dependent on iron ore mining industry, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said.
The scheme will wind up tomorrow due to poor response from borrowers who have piled up huge loan liabilities in different national and cooperative banks, Mr. Parsekar said.
The government’s decision to close the scheme will enable banks and financial institutions to freeze collateral sureties, including trucks, owned by defaulters.
The decision about the scheme was taken during a recent meeting with bankers. The scheme which 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.
He 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.
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 of upto 35 per cent on the total loan settlement amount is provided.
Banks and financial institutions are granting a 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.
