Goa CM welcomes SC decision to allow ore transportation

Welcoming the Supreme Court decision to allow transportation of iron ore extracted from mines with valid leases in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that the state economy would benefit as a result.

"There was a plea for allowing transportation of extracted ore. The court has permitted us today. We are taking positive steps to start mining. It will benefit our economy," Sawant told reporters here.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde is said to have modified an earlier order banning all ore extraction and transportation activity to allow validly extracted iron ore from mines with genuine leases in the state to be transported after payment of royalty.

Large volumes of ore extracted from mines is transported by road and by barges to the Mormugao Port Trust mostly for export purposes.

The latest SC order allows transportation of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of iron ore already extracted, which could earlier not be done due to the ban.

Mining was banned in Goa by the Supreme Court in 2018, after the court found irregularities in the renewals of 88 mining leases. This was the second ban on mining in Goa, after the 2012 mining ban, which followed revelation of an illegal mining scam involving Rs 35,000 crore.IANS