The Constitution of India embodies two fundamental principles : 1. Under Article 249 of the Constitution, sub-soil minerals are the property of the States (not the Centre). Therefore, responsibility for evolving an Appropriate & Sustainable ‘Mining Policy’ devolves on the state. 2. Intergenerational Equity (Article 21) which can be simply stated as the principle that future generations need to have access to resources that is at least equal to what is available to the present generation. The MMDR Act, 1957 does not bar the State Government of Goa from granting leases on terms that maximize the revenue from sale of ores to the State. However, hitherto the State Government of Goa has managed to capture only a very small fraction of the value of the iron ore extracted, while most of the value of the iron ore extracted is captured by mining leaseholders, resulting in a very significant redistribution of wealth from the unprivileged citizenry as a whole to the rich. Year..........Royalty to GoG....Value of Ore.......Value Captured by GoG ...................(Cr. Rs.)...........(Cr. Rs.).................(%) 2004-05.......26......................2,475................1.05% 2005-06.......27......................4,358.................0.62% 2006-07.......34......................5,595................0.61% 2007-08.......36......................9,261................0.39% 2008-09........36....................11,018................0.33% 2009-10.......292...................11,692................2.50% 2010-11........984..................23,307................4.22% 2011-12........951..................20,041................4.75% Total >>>>>2,386.................87,747................2.72% As seen above, even the small fraction captured (2.72% of Ore Value from FY 2004-05 to 2011-12) is spent by the government to meet its regular expenditures and so nothing is saved. Thus Goa State is clearly unable to meet the demands of Intergenerational Equity. The Supreme Court has now ruled that all leases in Goa approved or allowed to operate under the 1987 Abolition Act have finally expired in 2007. ALL Iron Ore MINING in GOA after 2007 is therefore ILLEGAL and ALL LEASES are liable for CANCELLATION. The Supreme Court has already permitted granting fresh mining leases in Goa with a cap of 20 million tons of iron ore per annum, subject to fulfilling all statutory requirements under the law and subject to fulfilling the guidelines including fresh Environmental Clearances & Recovery of Dues from illegal mining from the year 2007 onwards. LONG TERM MEASURES The recent Supreme Court judgment gives the State a phenomenal opportunity to re-design its leasing system to increase the amount it receives for its mineral resources, as well as to create a system to ensure Intergenerational Equity. Considering that Goa has an estimated iron ore reserve of 1,300 MMT, the amounts at stake are huge. A well designed mineral sector could result in funds of Rs. 2,23,322 crores over the lifetime of our reserves. This works out to Rs. 61 lakhs for a family of four. Many countries around the world are dealing with similar issues, and some have successfully made substantial provisions for their future generations. Norway and Botswana are considered as outstanding examples. The Norway Government Pension Fund, which has assets of $870 billion for a population of around 5 million. Based on the Supreme Corts cap of 20 million tons per annum, the State of Goa could gain from iron ore mining as shown in the table below : >
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 07:08:47 +0000
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