Goa budget not to consider revenue from fresh ore: Parrikar

Uncertainty over the resumption of mining continues

For the second consecutive year, the Goa government will draft its budget without considering revenue in the form of royalty on freshly extracted ore as uncertainty continues on resumption of mining.

The royalty to be collected from e-auctioning of the ore, which is lying in jetties and mining sites, can be considered while finalising the financial budget, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told PTI today.

"We may not consider the revenue from fresh extraction of the ore but will count the income from e-auctioning of ore," Parrikar said, even as he claimed that hopes are high that regulated mining activity would begin in the state during the next financial year.

Goa banks on the royalty from freshly extracted ore, which is around Rs 1,000 crore annually, as it largely funds the state's populist social welfare schemes.

Despite mining ban, the government managed to eke out Rs 900 crore by collecting money through signing of mining leases and conversion of land from agriculture to non-agriculture purpose to store the already extracted ore, Parrikar said.

Around Rs 350 crore would be earned through this conversion, he said.

Despite a tight financial situation last year, the state did not exceed the borrowing limit as being projected by a section of the media, the Chief Minister claimed.

"The capital and interest of Rs 1,600 crore on the loan earlier borrowed by the state was repaid during last one year," he said.

The state's budget would be bereft of any welfare schemes owing to the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls, he added.