The government of the western Indian state of Goa has decided that all iron ore mining leases scheduled to expire by 2020 and not renewed by the government for any reason will be put up for fresh auctions, a government official said on Friday, July 21.
The official said that the prime minister of Goa has already made a statement to the effect that there are 188 iron ore mining leases which will expire by 2020 and, if the government has decided not to renew them for any reason, the mines will be allocated to new operators through competitive bidding.
Although he did not specify the reasons for non-renewal, the official said this could be due to a host of reasons, including lack of approval of new mining plans, past record in adherence to mining and environmental laws, and new terms and conditions according to which, once the lease period of a mine has expired, the erstwhile operator does not have any first right at the time when the lease renewal process begins.
However, the official said that the government will ensure that the rising production of iron ore is not disrupted in course of the process of renewal of mining leases.
Goa produced an estimated 20 million mt of iron ore during 2016-17, up from a mere eight million mt in the previous fiscal year.