PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday asserted that iron ore mining, a crucial economic activity shut in Goa since 2018, will commence in the first few blocks successfully auctioned already this year itself by November-December.
"I want to tell the House that in the first four blocks already auctioned, physical mining activity will in all probability will begin in this upcoming season by November or December," Sawant said in reply to the discussion on the demands for grants pertaining to the department of mines and geology, finance, civil aviation, legal metrology, planning and statistics, tribal welfare, PPP Cell and some others administered by him.
The Chief Minister also said, that his government will roll out the 'Mining Dump Handling Policy 2023' which will deal with low grade iron ore and mining rejects dumped in government, private and comunidade lands by August this year.
The chief minister said, revenue from iron ore mining has already begun accruing to the State exchequer with nearly Rs 45 crore already received through the auctioning process of the 9 mining blocks already bagged by bidders.
Referring to the apprehensions voiced by some members during the discussion that locals who were employed in mining before the disruption may be overlooked by the successful bidders when they begin operations, Sawant said, the government is seized with it and will ensure that they are taken on board first.
Sawant also said that the mining department has streamlined the process for granting licences for exploiting minor minerals and has already issued several for basalt and other minor minerals. On sand mining, he said since the matter has been adjudicated by the court, the directions are being followed and licencing will follow the process the government has initiated through the NIO which is preparing the overall plan.
Mopa v/s Dabolim row
With the Opposition alleging that several airlines, including some charters, have already moved their operations from Dabolim to Mopa making the threat of the former eventually shutting down real, Sawant said, he will seek an actual report on the status of airlines and flights shifting their operations to Mopa in the next two-three days and make a detailed statement in the House on Monday.
He once again reiterated the assurance that no flight operations currently at Dabolim will be permitted to be moved to Mopa, Sawant said, he along with Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte will proceed to Delhi and get this issue resolved with the Union Civil Aviation minister and other related departments after the session ends.
The Opposition, especially Alemao and the other members, heckled the chief minister saying the threat is real and demanded that an economic viability plan aimed at co-existence of both the airports was paramount.
Sawant also said that revenue earning clause of the concession agreement at Mopa will come into play from May next year and the State will start earning the airport at Mopa will begin to earn 36.99 per-cent of the gross revenue of the airport.
Tax (GST & CST) grew by 18.5%
Sawant said the State has registered a robust 1.5% growth in the collection of commercial taxes, including Goods and Services Tax (GST), Central Services Tax (CST) and VAT in the last fiscal.
He said, several businesses registered under the excise law which had not registered under the GST regime were issued notices and they have begun doing so and paying the taxes.
"Notices were issued to nearly 2,000 such businesses and some 300 have already begun paying up," Sawant said.
No discrimination by Finance dept
In a bid to allay fears expressed by legislators from the Opposition benches, including Opposition Leader, Yuri Alemao, Venzy Viegas and Viresh Borkar, Sawant assured that the Finance department will not discriminate in clearing funds for development projects in areas represented by MLAs from the Opposition.
"There will be no discrimination by the Finance department in clearing files. Finally I am the chief minister of the entire State not just of the ruling side," Sawant said and sought to allay fears of the Opposition legislators by explaining the technicalities of the working of the finance department.
He said, files are kept pending when the works proposed do not have provision under the budget head and cleared as and when the funds are made available under that respective budget head.
Another issue arises when the work proposed is worth more than Rs one-crore when it is referred to the Goa State Works Board (GSWB) just as works costing Rs 12.5-crore and above also are, he said.
"The GSWB meets once every 15 days and it tries to clear the files referred to it based on the Rs 1 crore and Rs 12.5 crore estimate criteria," Sawant said, adding that no discrimination will be done against Opposition represented constituencies in so far as clearance of files by finance department is concerned.
Tribal welfare
Sawant said, he will consider raising the upper limits of the assistance provided under the tribal welfare schemes, especially housing for the tribal communities, by amalgamating schemes under the Rehabilitation Board, Goa Housing Board and the tribal welfare department.
Currently tribals seeking assistance to construct houses are eligible to only Rs 3.5 lakh for a new house and Rs 1.5 lakh for repairs, which is too meagre many MLAs felt.
On other welfare schemes for tribals, Sawant said, his government will make it a point to ensure that pendency is eliminated. In schemes like educational scholarships, it will be ensured that 100 per-cent applications are serviced with zero pendency, he added.
Convention Centre bidding process again
The bidding process for the 'Convention Centre' proposed to be built on a public-private-participation (PPP) basis at Dona Paula on land where the abandoned Rajiv Gandhi IT Park was planned will be re-tendered again, Sawant said.
The bidding process for the project had failed twice, Sawant added.
The Convention Centre of international standards to primarily host the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was first conceived back in 2015 and a tendering process had failed twice in the past.
Details of the project available, indicate that the main convention hall will have at least 5,000 capacity a multiplex, an exhibition hall and other allied facilities like smaller hotels, malls, etc.
It is to be built on nearly one-lakh square meters primarily as a permanent venue for the IFFI with allied facilities like five-star hotel and recreational infrastructure.
