India: Goa miners’ association says may move court

By SteelMint Bureau/Meera Mohanty

The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA) whose members include Vedanta, Sociedade de Fomento and VM Salgaocar said it intends to move court against the state’s decision to vacate them from their old leases.

The Goa government on Wednesday sent notices to 88 lessees whose renewals had been set aside by the Supreme Court (SC) in February of 2018. By then the mining act had been amended to mandate auction, making it difficult for the state government to renew these leases. After years of deliberation and botched attempts at reinstating rights to the old lessees, the state has decided to auction these areas.

In a statement released on Thursday, the GMOEA said they would “represent appropriately to the Government as well as follow necessary remedial actions through the Judicial Courts.” The statement pointed out that “there is no order” – referring to the lack of a specific termination order. It added that matters related to these leases were before the High Court.

The Directorate of Mines’ 4 May dated notices to the lessees refers to the SC’s 21 April 2014 judgement – which said a second renewal wasn’t automatic and thus Goa’s mines, running “illegally” under a deemed provision, had lapsed in 2007 — and the 2018 order to conclude that the leases had come to the end of their term with effect from 16 March 2018. Two other SC orders have also extended to the lessees time, 6 months in one case and a month in another, to clear their previously mined ore.