‘40,000 job losses even if Goa mining is resumed’
29 Dec 2013 10:10 PM GMT
Over 40,000 jobs in mining and related sectors will be lost in Goa even if the current mining ban is lifted by the Supreme Court, says the state’s apex business body. A plea to Union Finance
Secretary Sumit Bose by the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Saturday urged the Union government to help the state’s economy, ‘every sector of which is reporting lower volumes’ due to the current ban on mining.
‘Even when mining activity resumes, we expect that volumes will decline by more than 60 per cent, rendering jobless 40,000 youth currently employed in mining and related sectors,’ GCCI chairman Narayan Bandekar said in a petition.
All mining activities in Goa have been stalled for nearly a year now following three successive bans by the state government, Union environment and forests ministry, and apex court following the multi-billion rupee illegal mining scam in Goa. The ministry had put on hold all environmental clearances to Goa’s mines last year after the state government suspended all mining operations in wake of the Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam in Goa. The Supreme Court ordered the ban following a petition by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, demanding a probe into the scam.
In 2010 Goa exported over 50 million tonnes of iron ore. Nearly a third of the total exported ore from Goa is illegal. ‘Given the fact that the matter of the ban on mining in the state is in the Supreme Court, this position is not expected to improve in the ensuing fiscal,’ noted Bandekar.
He added that the ban has unleashed ‘a cascading effect on the rest of the Goan economy, with almost every sector reporting lower volumes’, and requested the Central Government to lend a ‘helping hand’ to the state and the industrial sector in the form of tax waivers and sops.
Secretary Sumit Bose by the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Saturday urged the Union government to help the state’s economy, ‘every sector of which is reporting lower volumes’ due to the current ban on mining.
‘Even when mining activity resumes, we expect that volumes will decline by more than 60 per cent, rendering jobless 40,000 youth currently employed in mining and related sectors,’ GCCI chairman Narayan Bandekar said in a petition.
All mining activities in Goa have been stalled for nearly a year now following three successive bans by the state government, Union environment and forests ministry, and apex court following the multi-billion rupee illegal mining scam in Goa. The ministry had put on hold all environmental clearances to Goa’s mines last year after the state government suspended all mining operations in wake of the Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam in Goa. The Supreme Court ordered the ban following a petition by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, demanding a probe into the scam.
In 2010 Goa exported over 50 million tonnes of iron ore. Nearly a third of the total exported ore from Goa is illegal. ‘Given the fact that the matter of the ban on mining in the state is in the Supreme Court, this position is not expected to improve in the ensuing fiscal,’ noted Bandekar.
He added that the ban has unleashed ‘a cascading effect on the rest of the Goan economy, with almost every sector reporting lower volumes’, and requested the Central Government to lend a ‘helping hand’ to the state and the industrial sector in the form of tax waivers and sops.
Next Story
