Ministers meet on October 13 to discuss current crisis in Goa's mining industry

The Union government's Group of Ministers would meet on October 13 to discuss the current crisis in Goa's mining industry, state Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said Monday.

The coastal state's mining industry came to a halt in March this year after the Supreme Court, in an order in February quashed 88 leases and banned the extraction of iron ore. The Centre's Group of Ministers (GoM) comprises Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Mines Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Dhavalikar Monday said that the GoM will discuss ways to resume mining in Goa as its closure had resulted in huge losses to the state. The Goa minister said that the Union government will find a solution to the crisis by amending the existing mining law during the Parliamentary session to be summoned in November.

"The amendment will give new life to the mining leases and it will result in the industry's resumption," Dhavalikar said. In another development, Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar Monday said the party would hold a protest on October 10 against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and former CM Laxmikant Parsekar for allegedly indulging in corruption while renewing mine leases earlier.

He said that the Congress had last week filed a formal complaint with Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma and Director General of Police Muktesh Chandar against Parrikar and Parsekar but both officials had failed to act on it. He said Congress leaders would meet Governor Mridula Sinha on October 10 seeking an investigation into the issue.