Panaji: Decision on withdrawal of suspension order on mining activity in Goa, which was imposed in September 2012, would be taken by the state Cabinet only after it approves the mining policy, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday.
When asked whether the suspension would be lifted in the next Cabinet meet, Parrikar told reporters, "How can I comment now? It is for the cabinet to approve the policy. Only after that the decision on lifting the suspension order will be taken. It's not fair for me to comment anything right now."
The Cabinet meeting, which was supposed to take place on Tuesday, has now been postponed by a day. The mining policy would be taken up for approval during on Wednesday.
"There is a delay by another day for approval of mining policy. We wanted to do it on September 30 as promised earlier, but the cabinet meeting is now fixed on October 1," Parrikar added.
The state government has already announced that the mining industry will resume operation by December this year, while the process to restart the economic activity would begin from the coming month.
The ban had been imposed based on the findings of the Justice MB Shah Commission report, which estimated a Rs 35,000 crore loss to the exchequer due to alleged illegal mining over 12 years.
The Supreme Court had lifted the two-year-long ban on the industry in April this year, with a condition that the state government should formulate a mining policy.
The policy was discussed during the state Legislative Assembly session held in August.
