KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - An expert committee appointed by India’s Supreme Court has recommended a 20-million-tonne-a-year cap on iron-ore mining in the western coastal province of Goa.

In an interim report submitted to the apex court, the committee said that the cap would be subject to the provincial government putting in place an effect mechanism for regulation and monitoring mining activities in the region.

According to the mining industry, the committee’s recommendations could hasten the resumption of mining in Goa, banned by the Supreme Court in 2012 following legal challenges against widespread illegal mining in the province.

However, government officials remained cautious over the early resumption of mining activities since a string of caveats suggested by the expert committee would take time to implement.

The committee said on a note of caution, that while a 20-million-tonne-a-year extraction cap would be viable, it would not be desirable without adequate regulatory and technological measures to ensure restoration of the already degraded areas and guarantee minimal ecological damage by future mining activities.

The committee was of the view that the Supreme Court should continue monitoring mining activities, even after it permits resumption of operations, till such time that the committee was able to complete and finalise its scientific study and submit a final report on the mining industry in the province.

The other recommendations included establishing a government-owned and -operated mining corporation in Goa, which could break the monopolistic grip of the few private miners in the region, and setting up an ecological monitoring and research centre funded by a levy on iron-ore produced in the province.

Meanwhile, anticipating that the courts might relax the ban on mining, the Goan provincial government has announced the construction of dedicated mining transport corridors for transportation of ore from pitheads to stockyards and port. The corridor would bypass congested urban areas where roads had been degraded owing to the high traffic of ore-laden trucks.