Law Ministry advises against legislation changes to resume Goa iron-ore mining

India’s Law Ministry has opined that the government should not resort to legislative changes to bring closed iron-ore mines back into operation in the western coastal state of Goa. The Law Ministry in a communication to counterparts in the Mines Ministry said that there was no “legislative cure” for the resumption of operations at about 88 iron-ore mines in Goa closed down by order of the Supreme Court in February this year, on grounds that the mine lease renewals by the Goa government were in violation of the Mines, Minerals Development and Regulation Act (MMDRA) 2015, which made the auction route mandatory for allocation of mining leases.