Centre agrees in-principle to give aid to Goa for mining

The Centre has agreed in-principle to provide financial package to the Goa government to compensate revenue loss caused due to closure of the mining industry, following ban by the Supreme Court in 2012, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said.

The Supreme Court had banned mining exports from Goa in 2012 after allegations of large-scale illegal mining.

However, the apex court in April this year lifted its 18-month-old ban on all mining activities in mineral rich Goa by allowing annual excavation of up to 20 million MT of iron ore.

The chief minister, who had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to discuss the issue, said the formal proposal in this regard would be submitted to the Centre soon.

"We cannot disclose how much assistance would be sought from the Centre. We will inform you once the formal request is sent to the Prime minister," Parrikar said today.

He said the state government also discussed on how the package would be rendered.

"Union government cannot just give the package. They will have to find a methodology for it and we have discussed about it. In principle, he has agreed (to give the package)," he said.

"He (Modi) has asked us to send the proposal. And this is to compensate the loss due to closure of mining," Parrikar added.

The state government in the past had claimed that Goa has incurred a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore due to closure of the mining industry in last two years.