PANAJI
The Goa Cabinet on Thursday approved changes in the State's 'Mining Dumps Policy' by which the State government will e-auction those that are unclaimed and lying on private land where conversion fees have not been paid.
The government has already identified some 30-odd such iron ore mining dumps and expects to earn some Rs 400-500 crore by auctioning them, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.
"All the revenue will go to the State exchequer," Sawant told journalists at the post-Cabinet briefing, adding that some portion as royalty may have to be shared with the land owner which will be decided by the government.
“Dumps lying on private land and unclaimed, where no land conversion charges are paid, will be auctioned by the government. Around 30-40 such dumps have been identified,” Sawant said.
The State government had been eyeing the mining dumps as a source of revenue after its finances suffered a major setback since 2012 when a ban on all mining operations first came into effect and disrupted the Industry here.
Meanwhile in other decisions, the Sawant-led Cabinet gave its nod to hire on a contract basis and fill vacancies to 29 posts in the ESI hospital at Margao.
In yet another decision, a post-facto approval was granted to payments made to service providers by the Directorate of Health Services.
