PANAJI: Reacting against the Supreme Court destroyed the state review petition to restart mining, BJP State President Sadanand Shet Tanavade said on Tuesday that the government must immediately restart the industry through a mining company or e-auction rent.
“We think the country will win the battle of mining legally, but given the SC command Tuesday, the state government must provide assistance to people in the mining belt by continuing mining activities through corporations or auctions,” he told reporters.
He also said that BJP hopes SC will provide beneficial orders to continue mining activities in the state.
“We believe that the state government will come out with several solutions to restart mining in the state,” he said.
Mining in Goa stopped in March 2018 after SC canceled the second update from mining rent.
The State Government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) to identify a new iron ore mine in the state.
Given the delay in the resumption of mining activities in the state, Sawant has decided to form a mining company and identify new mineral blocks to restart the industry.
Mining companies have submitted a special leave petition (SLP) at the APEX court after the Bombay High Court in Goa rejected their petitions challenging Goa, Daman and DIU (Abortion and Mining Rental Declaration), 1987.
During the Portuguese era, mining companies were given mining concessions, which is then converted into mining rentals under ACT.
SLP has stated that the action must be applied from 1987, not 1961.