Mining debt relief scheme extended till September 30

PANAJI: The state government on Thursday extended its debt relief scheme for mining-affected borrowers of financial institutions till September 30 through a notification. This is the fifth continuation granted by the mining department. The move will benefit those who have made proposals for the settlement of mining-associated loans.

The cabinet had, on May 21, accorded an ex-post facto approval for extending the scheme by six months from April 1.

“The debt relief scheme for mining-affected borrowers of financial institutions is further extended up to September 30 from the date of expiry of the said scheme. The proposed extension is limited to only those proposals that are pending with banks or those that were rejected earlier,” director and additional secretary for mines and geology, Prasanna Acharya, said.


In the notification, Acharya said this would be the last extension granted by the state government. “The final authority to grant the benefit either fully or partly in exceptional cases in either a single case or a group of cases shall lie with the chief minister, whose decision shall be final in case the committee defers its decision on the proposal or decides on such a proposal in the negative,” the notification stated.

The debt relief scheme for mining-dependent individuals and companies offers financial assistance to owners of mining trucks and barges and others to repay bank loans taken when mining operations were at their peak.

The scheme was launched when mining was banned in Goa in 2012 by the Supreme Court. The state government provided a subsidy of up to 35% on the total loan settlement amount to borrowers who were affected by the closure of the mining industry.