The 60-day extension granted by the Center to Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to complete the formalities for the Dongri-Tal II coal block will come to an end in just over a month. GIDC is still waiting for the state government to appoint a transaction advisor to help select a mining developer-cum-operator for the Madhya Pradesh coal mine.
With austerity measures in place and a fund crunch staring at the state, GIDC could lose out on the coal block a second time, sources said.
GIDC has 60 days to go from the Centre. The extension will be over on July 28, “said Derrick Neto, Managing Director of GIDC.
GIDC moved a file seeking the approval of the State Government for a Request for Proposal ( RFP) to select a transaction advisor to select a coal mining developer-cum operator as well as a separate consultant to assist in the auction of 5 lakh square meters of land recovered from the promoters of the Special Economic Zone.
Subsequently, on June 10, the Goa government outlined a range of austerity measures, including a halt to capital expenditure and project-specific borrowing by government departments as well as state-owned public sector enterprises (PSUs) such as GIDC.
Prior to the lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Industry had set up a selection committee and a monitoring committee to oversee the appointment of consultants to the two key projects. Industry Secretary Nila Mohanan chairs the selection committee, while industry minister Vishwajit Rane heads the monitoring committee. Mohanan also serves as Secretary of Health and Rane is Minister of Health.
“GIDC has yet to identify the transaction advisor for the coal block. The RFP to select the consultant is awaiting government nod,” said an official. The industries department had issued an order to GIDC in the last week of December asking GIDC to go ahead with the auction of a fraction of the 38 lakh sqm of SEZ land and submit an action taken report. Chief minister Pramod Sawant has told GIDC that Goa cannot afford to lose out on the coal block.
