For Goa's 'trusted' miners, Parrikar may throw Modi's manifesto to the wind

Panaji: In his zeal to resolve Goa’s iron-ore mining crisis, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar may well have chosen to throw both, BJP’s Lok Sabha 2014 manifesto and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advise on the need for auctioning of “natural resources” to the wind. And in doing so, Parrikar, as minister for mines, who is charting out a potential course of action for the revival of Goa’s multi-billion dollar mining sector, could have just allowed the same mining companies accused of a Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam back into the big game. Nearly all mining companies in Goa including big names like the Vedanta Resources-owned Sesa Goa and others owned by local mining magnates like the Salgaocars, Timblo’s, etc. have been accused of committing illegalities by the Shah Commission.

In a six-page written statement tabled in the Goa state legislative assembly on Monday, Parrikar, has suggested that it would prefer to allow 27 existing lease holders to operate renewed mining leases, instead of choosing other more profitable routes for harvesting iron ore like setting up a state mining corporation or auctioning the 70 odd available leases to the highest bidder.

Several of the 27 mining companies have been indicted for mining related illegalities and irregularities by the Justice MB Shah Commission of enquiry. Justice Shah also recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into key aspects of the mining scam, masterminded according to the Commission by a nexus of politicians, bureaucrats mining magnates.

Parrikar claims, his intent to renew the mining leases is directed by an 13 August judgement of the Bombay High Court bench in Panaji, but in reality by choosing to not appeal against the order and follow the renewal of leases route, the chief minister may have just gone back on his Modi’s 2014 poll manifesto. “The judgment and order of the Honourable High Court virtually leaves no choice to the state government, thereby to completely abandon the process of competitive bidding for earning the best revenue to the State government,” Parrikar told the state legislative assembly Monday.

The 13 August high court order was delivered several months after the mining companies petitioned the court to allow them to avail of the renewed mining leases claiming they had paid a stamp duty prescribed by the government.

Mining in Goa was banned by the Supreme Court in September 2013 on the heels of a Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam exposed by the Shah Commission appointed by the union ministry of mines. The order lifting the ban was passed by the apex court in April this year, before which the state government raised Rs 435 crore in form of stamp duty paid by the 27 mining lease operators.

While lifting the ban in April, the apex court had ruled that nearly all mining leases in Goa were not valid and had asked the state government to initiate a process of issuing fresh leases. But the 13 August High Court order, which has directed the government to renew the leases of the 27 mining lease holders who have paid the requisite stamp duty, has now queered the pitch.

Interestingly, Parrikar, who has been accused by the Opposition as well as civil society of being close to the powerful mining lobby, told PTI a few days after the High Court order, that the government will not challenge it.

The chief minister also went on to extoll to the news agency the trust which the mine owners had for his government.

“The mining lease owners trusted government when no one else did it. I don’t need to challenge the high court judgement as it clearly says that the lease deeds can be executed subject to the conditions laid down by the Apex court in the writ petition,” said Parrikar, whose main poll plank in 2012 was incidentally bringing the accused in the mining scam to book and a government with zero tolerance to corruption.

Parrikar’s trust for the mining stakeholders however appears to override the basic tenets of poll manifesto on the basis which Prime Minister Narendra Modi won an unprecedented mandate during the 2014 general election.

Under the ‘Natural and National Resources’ header in the BJP’s poll manifesto, the party quotes Gandhian virtue and cautions against the culture of usurping natural resources and mismanagement.

“We will implement auction of precious resources through efficient mechanisms including e-auction,” it reads.

It’s not just the manifesto alone which Parrikar appears to be defying, in favour of the ’trusted’ mining lease holders, but Modi’s words of caution too spoken during his Vijay Sankalp rally held in Goa in January.

Modi, who shared dais with Parrikar as well as a galaxy of BJP leaders, both state and Central, had said that his passionate wish to auction natural resources limestone had been baulked by then Union government headed by the UPA government.