Ore export drops by 30%
RUPESH SAMANT (PTI), PANAJI | 15 March 2012 11:21 IST
Goa's iron ore industry is staring at 30 per cent cut down in the exports for the current fiscal, which is being attributed to enforcement of stringent regulations, stopping uncontrolled tapping of minerals.
The royalty collection by the state government will also slump this time, even as policymakers have geared up to have additional resource mobilisation, to make up for the revenue losses suffered from the mining industry.
State Mines and Geology Department has projected the royalty collection of Rs 720 crore for the current fiscal, ending March 31.
The collection this FY is much less, as compared to Rs 983 crore last fiscal.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, anticipating the reduction in the royalty collection, has already announced that the state finances, this time, will not bank on the revenue collected from the mining industry, to bail out from the fiscal deficit.
The BJP-led government wants to opt for alternate avenues of additional resource mobilisation to mop up the revenue.
Parrikar has kept these avenues under wraps. Goa Mineral Ore Exporters' Association (GMOEA), an umbrella organisation of the ore exporters, has said that the healthy regulations on the industry are always welcome.
GMOEA has projected total exports to be around 40 million metric tonnes this FY.
Association secretary Glenn Kalavampara predicted a direct 30 per cent decrease in the exports considering the current trends.
State's iron ore trade, after witnessing rocky patch, had come to a standstill for a couple of months, after the Union Government appointed Shah Commission and state legislative assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) began their probe into the affairs of this industry.
