Ore transportation could begin by Jan: Parrikar
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 11 November 2013 19:12 IST
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar expects the auction of stacked iron ore to begin within a month and the movement of iron could begin by January next year.
The Supreme Court today allowed e-auction of the stacked iron ore at jetties and leases, appointing a three-member committee to monitor the whole operation.
He also predicted the total value of 15.5 MT of stacked iron ore to around Rs 10,000 crore.
“The e-auction would begin with 30-day notice”, he said, as soon as the committee starts functioning.
The committee consists of U V Singh, the CEC member, another retired official appointed by the apex court and one official – of not lower to the rank of the joint secretary – to be appointed by Goa’s chief secretary.
“It is up to the buyer of the auction to decide whether to sell the ore locally or export it”, said Parrikar.
However, he has valued the whole iron ore by calculating the China rate, presuming that it would be exported to China.
“The actual movement of ore through transportation by trucks and barges would begin only after the auctioning process is over by December end”, he said.
According to him, the basic purpose of allowing the e-auction is to provide economic activity like truck and barge transportation as well as the exporting activity at the ports.
He also made it clear that no foreign party would be able to participate in the e-auction.
“They will have to take a local partner”, he said, hinting at the fact that the local mine owners, who are the authorized exporters, will have the benefit to buy the auctioned ore and export it.
The money from auction however would go to the government treasury until the Supreme Court gives judgement on Goa’s mines.
Parrikar thus also plans to stop the special packages he had offered to the truck and barge owners after December.
