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Goa iron ore exports expected to drop 30% this year

Goa’s iron ore industry is staring at a 30 per cent decline in exports for the current fiscal, being attributed to enforcement of stringent regulations and the curbing of the uncontrolled tapping of minerals.

Royalty collection by the State Government will also slump this time, even as policymakers have geared up to mobilise additional resources to make up for the revenue loss suffered from the mining industry.

The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters’ Association (GMOEA), an umbrella organisation of ore exporters, has projected total exports at around 40 million tonnes this year.

The Association Secretary, Mr Glenn Kalavampara, predicted a direct 30 per cent decrease in exports considering the current trends.

The State’s iron ore trade, after witnessing a rocky patch, had come to a standstill for a couple of months after the Government-appointed Shah Commission and the State legislative assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) began their probe into the affairs of the industry.

The State Mines and Geology Department has projected royalty collection of Rs 720 crore for the current fiscal ending March 31, as against Rs 983 crore collected last fiscal.

The Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar, anticipating the reduction in royalty collection, has announced that the State finances, this time, will not bank on revenue collected from the mining industry to bail it out of the fiscal deficit.

The BJP-led Government wants to opt for alternate avenues of additional resource mobilisation to mop up the revenue.