PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday welcomed the Centre's decision to abolish export duty on low-grade iron ore, citing that the move will give a boost to the mining sector and fetch higher revenue for the state government.
Taking to Twitter, Sawant thanked the Union government for considering the state's request to levy nil export duty on low-grade iron ore.
" I thank the Union Govt led by Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for considering our request for levying nil export duty on below 58 Fe Iron Ore. My gratitude to the FM @nsitharaman Ji for the withdrawal of export duty that will give a boost to the mining sector and Goa's economy," the chief minister tweeted.
In another tweet, Sawant thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating that the move will fetch higher revenues for the state government during auctioning of mining leases.
This will also propel the export of low-grade iron ore from Goa, giving relief to various segments in the iron ore business and allied activities, he tweeted.
The Union government on Friday decided to abolish export duty on iron ore lumps and fines and pellets.
The export of pig iron and steel products classified under some of the headings will also attract nil export duty.
Earlier in May, Sawant had met the finance minister requesting her to reduce the export duty to zero on low-grade iron ore.
The Goa government has already initiated the process of auctioning mining leases in the state, where the industry had come to a standstill since 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 leases.