Crack-down on mining: Goa to cancel 40 licenses

PANAJI: The Goa government has decided to cancel licences of 40 mines, whose delay in filing of `J form' under the `Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concession Act 1987' had been condoned by the previous Congress-led governments.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said in the state Legislative Assembly that all the 40 licences would be cancelled within two weeks.

Deadline for filing J form was November 22, 1988. But some of the forms were filed as late as 2005.

J form is necessary for conversion of old mining concessions granted during the Portuguese rule into formal leases.

Parrikar said that only Union Government had the power to condone the delay.

Goa has 90-odd mining leases.