JOIN USAccording to Goa Foundation, heavyweight mining companies and lease owners have put in the least investment in the no-holds-barred business that has brought them huge returns after the Chinese boom. While mining companies have made an approximate investment of Rs 662 crore, trucks and barges on the other hand have invested nearly Rs 2,200 crore.
“The maximum investment in Goa’s mining industry has come from non-mining companies and non-lease holders,” says Claude Alvares of GF, because mining companies are renting machinery. He says cash-rich exporters are duty bound to work out a rehabilitation package to help truckers and others repay loans and get jobs.
NGOs said a truck operator from Belgaum, Prasanna Gotage, who has diverted mining trucks from Bellary should also be asked to leave Goa.