Goa illegal mining: Kamat holds discussion with Shah Commission

Clarifies "went on his own, neither summoned nor sent by Congress"

PTI | September 19, 2011



Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat met members of the Shah commission as a part of the inquiry initiated against the illegal mining trade in the state.

Kamat, who also holds the mining portfolio, had a lengthy discussion with justice M B Shah and his key member U V Singh in Panaji on Monday.

Shah commission had said that if required they would summon chief minister for the inquiry. Sources said that Kamat was not summoned but went on his own to meet the members.

Another Congress minister Vishwajit Rane also met the commission expressing the apprehensions that legal mining should not be affected in a quest to stop illegal mining in the state.

"I told the commission that legal mining should not be stopped. There are several thousand families who are dependent on this trade," he said adding that Bicholim and Sattari talukas, represented by him, has several mining leases and people dependent on them to eke out living.

"After Bellari situation, there is a fear that Commission's report will also clamp down on legal mining in the state. There should be proper line drawn between legal and illegal," Rane said.

The minister clarified that he was neither summoned nor sent by Congress party to represent before commission.

"I went there on my own," he told PTI on Monday.

Eight teams of Shah commission aided by state government have launched extensive investigation illegal mining in the state.

As per rough estimates, illegal mining in Goa is pegged to be between Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 10,000 crore. Goa exported around 54 million metric tones of iron ore last year through its two ports.

Comments

 

Other News

₹5,000 crore saved from suspected financial fraud

In a significant gain for citizen protection in the digital economy, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has helped prevent suspected cyber fraud losses of more than ₹5,000 crore through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) within fifteen months of its launch on May 22, 2025. This money did

Capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore for defence forces cleared

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, on Monday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), that is, in-principle administrative approval to various acquisition proposals of the defence forces at an estimated cost of about Rs 1,10,000 crore.

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

 India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter