Panaji, July 20 (IANS) The Goa government is planning to auction mining leases which are due to expire in 2020, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the state legislative assembly on Thursday.
Parrikar, also the Minister of Mines and Geology, said that there are 277 valid iron ore mining leases in the state.
"So far 89 mining leases are renewed and 188 leases have got benefit of deemed extension as per Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015," Parrikar said in a written reply to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nilesh Cabral.
A few years back, a central government appointed judicial commission had exposed a Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam in Goa, which eventually led to a Supreme Court-enforced ban on all iron ore extraction.
The ban was lifted in 2014 and iron ore extraction started next year under strict monitoring of the apex court.
Parrikar added that iron ore production for the 2015-16 fiscal was 7.29 million tonnes and in 2016-17 it increased to 20 million tonnes.
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