The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments that ore from Goa’s mines should be utilised in India itself and not to be exported.
“The AAP Goa appreciates Modi’s statement regarding not limiting our mining adventures simply to extract our precious natural resources and bolster the economy of other countries to which they get exported, but to convert iron ore to steel and other finished products that in real terms will give us many more jobs and boost our local economy,” the party said.
The party has also demanded that mining should be nationalised and taken away from “the grip of private mining companies”. Nationalisation will “rejuvenate the economy and ecology of Goa”, it added.
AAP also accused Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of dancing to the tunes of the mining lobby in the State. “This message should be heard loud and clear by all those mining companies preparing to be active again in Goa, and strictly enforced by Parrikar, who sadly appears to still be hostage to this rapacious lobby despite the bitter lesson learnt through ban on mining activities for the past two years,” the AAP said.
Goa used to export more than 55 million tonnes of iron ore, especially to China before it was banned for 18 months by the Supreme Court of India a couple of years back. The ban has now been lifted and mining is expected to resume after the State Government forms a policy for the same.