The government of the western Indian coastal state of Goa is working on a policy for regulating iron ore dump handling and enabling auctions of low grade iron ore dumps lying on private land outside mining lease areas, government sources said on Thursday, March 28.
Currently, mining companies are permitted to remove the dumps within five years from private land after paying a ‘conversion fee’ under the land revenue code, but several mining companies have faced difficulties in paying the conversion fees, the sources said.
Under the new policy under preparation, all dumps on private land outside mining lease hold areas would be permitted to be removed by auctioning the low grade iron ore dumps, the sources said.
It is estimated that around 700 million mt of low grade iron ore are lying across dumps within mining lease hold areas and private land across Goa owned by erstwhile lease holders prior to the mining ban imposed by India’s Supreme Court in 2018.
Under the existing rules, in the case conversion fees are not paid by the erstwhile lease holders for dumps lying on private land and penalties are not paid, the government auctions the dumps on its own.