With the monsoon rains over, around 40 mines of the total 85 iron ore mines in the western Indian state of Goa will progressively resume production over the next 30 days, a government official said on Wednesday, October 19.
The Goa government official said that these 40 mines once back in production at full capacity after the monsoon break will be able to achieve total iron ore production of 20 million mt in the financial year ending March 31, 2017, the cap set by India’s Supreme Court.
The official said that the remaining 45 mining leases were renewed by the Goa government but were not able to commence production as they were yet to secure mandatory approvals including environmental clearances from federal agencies and ministries.
For the record, he pointed out that the expert committee of the Supreme Court recommended hiking the annual production cap to 30 million mt for the next fiscal year and this recommendation was awaiting approval by the Supreme Court.
However, with 40 mines operating, the 20 million mt cap for the current year will be sufficient for the operating mines to achieve optimal production.