So while the state government is happy simply because the government exchequer is making money on mining for the first time in 18 months after losing revenue of Rs. 125 crore per month because of the ban , whereas others in the business do not really stand to gain because the e-auction is a one-off thing.

The Goa government had inadvertently admitted to the illegalities in mining when the state's mines secretary Pawan Kumar Sain, had in his affidavit to the apex court, revealed the extent of illegal extraction."This ore, subject to further verification, has also not been reflected in the returns of any of the traders. This is found in the mining leases and on different plots," he said.

Ore did not make it to the ports

What propelled the ban was the shocking report by the Justice MB Shah Commission which put at Rs. 35,000 crore (1 crore = 1,00,00,000) the loss to the Goa government because of illegal mining over the years. In this election season, the Congress is focussing on the fact that the state government first suspended mining on September 10, 2012 after the Shah Commission report came out and later the apex court's order of October 5, 2012 banning mining came. In fact on September 10 and 11, the Collectors of north and south Goa districts issued orders prohibiting road transport of iron ore in the entire state.

Coming back to the current scenario, the state government had got the apex court's go-ahead last November to auction off legally excavated (11.48 million metric tons) and illegal ore that was stockpiled when the abrupt ban, halting extracted ore on its way to shipping, went into operation.  At the jetties itself, 4.88 million metric tons of ore was stacked, ready to be exported, a senior mining department officer said.

Parrikar had said that the state had nearly 15.3 million metric tons of ore ready for e-auction which would generate total revenue of Rs. 10,000 crore (10000,00,00,000). "But excluding the royalty and other taxes to be paid to the centre, the state will be able to earn Rs. 1,500 crore (1500,00,00,000)," he had said.

Big brother is watching

So while the state government is happy that it is getting some revenue, other stakeholders are not as happy with the e-auction. The state, simply because the government exchequer is making money on mining for the first time in 18 months after losing revenue of Rs. 125 crore (125,00,00,000) per month because of the ban , whereas others in the business do not really stand to gain because the e-auction is a one-off thing. In fact ore owners will get their money only after the final order on the petition in connection with the illegal mining in Goa. Mining is what will keep stakeholders cash registers ringing, not selling left over ore.

"The state government is allowed to do the e-auctioning," a three-judge forest bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik had said, adding that the amount collected be kept as "fixed deposits till this court decides the matter." The bench also comprised justices SS Nijjar and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla.

A Supreme Court-approved committee monitored the sale done by the state-owned metal scrap trading firm MSTC Ltd through the state mining department.

The Supreme Court allowed resumption of sale of iron ore in Karnataka in September 2011 only through e-auctions, which allowed a transparent price discovery. Goa's iron ore which is of inferior quality is exported to steel units in China, Japan and South Korea.

Online reporting

Incidentally, the online reporting of ore, mining and exports will be made mandatory from April 1. However, manual reporting would also continue initially for six months to facilitate dovetailing from manual to online reporting.


Ranjan Sahai, Indian Bureau of Mines, informed the CEC Committee, set up by the apex court, at its recently held meeting that the system developed for online reporting was found to be robust in terms of hardware, software, security, and format.