In a major setback, Sesa Sterlite, part of the Vedanta Group, has said it has no licence to mine in Goa. On Monday, the Supreme Court had lifted the 19-month-old ban on mining in the state.

Sesa Sterlite said all the mining leases in Goa had expired in 2007, and consequently, no mining operations could be carried out until the State Government renewed the mining lease deeds. In a statement, the company said it is working towards securing permission to commence operations at the earliest.

According to the Supreme Court judgment, the mining leases were given by Portugal, when Goa was a Portuguese territory. The Government, in an Act passed in 1987, provided deemed status to the leases for 20 years. The leases were thus deemed to have been renewed until 2007.

Lifting the mining ban on Monday, the apex court fixed an annual production capacity of 20 million tonnes but stopped miners with deemed leases from continuing any mining activity.

The Supreme Court order said that all the mining activity carried out by miners in Goa after 2007 was illegal. The Court has directed the State Government to firm up a policy to grant new leases to deemed leaseholders. The State Government may grant mining leases for iron ore and other ores in Goa with the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, it said.

Vikram Dhawan, Director, Equentis Capital, said it is not yet clear how the Goa Government will implement the annual iron ore mining limit of 20 million tonnes.

“We have to see whether the mining licences will be issued at the State Government’s discretion, on a pro-rata basis or if it will auction them. If the licences are auctioned, prices may shoot up,” he said.

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