The government of the western Indian province of Goa will approach the Indian Supreme Court for a hike in the annual iron production cap of 20 million mt if miners in Goa commit themselves to invest in upgrading infrastructure, a senior government official said on Monday, July 5.
The government official said that iron production in Goa is expected to touch the 20 million mt cap by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year and that the government will consider applying ot the Supreme Court if miners collaborate with the government in planning and investing in improvement of infrastructure.
The official said that, with rising production from mines across Goa, infrastructure facilities have been stretched leading to problems of poor conditions of roads having to bear the rising burden of trucks, accident hazards faced by citizens living along the mining corridors, shortage of dumping yards and indiscriminate dumping by miners.
As per the directive of the Supreme Court, the Goa government is committed to monitoring and checks of iron ore production and the option of approaching the court will be considered after all stakeholders meet and commit to investments in upgrading infrastructure within definite timelines, the official added.