Goa’s Mineral Riches Meant for All, Not a Chosen Few, say Goa Foundation’s Alvares, Basu at MOG Sundays Talk
~ Mineral wealth must be treated as shared inheritance, say Claude Alvares and Rahul Basu at MOG Sundays Talk.
~ “We are not anti-mining. We are against theft disguised as policy,” says Basu, a Director at the Goa Foundation, calling for transparency and citizen ownership.
Panaji, April 2025: The future of mining in Goa must be guided by accountability, environmental stewardship and a commitment to ensuring a sustainable legacy for future generations, according to Rahul Basu and Claude Alvares, stalwarts of the state’s most renowned green organisation, the Goa Foundation, which has consistently taken up issues impacting the state’s environment.
Speaking at a recent MOG Sundays talk on the new mining policy at the Museum of Goa in Pilerne, Alvares, the founder of the Goa Foundation, and Basu, its research director, elaborated on five key principles which they said can help reshape and revive the mining sector in the state, which has witnessed a series of ups and down in its fortunes over the past two decades.
The talk, grounded in history and laden with data, mapped the journey of Goa’s mining industry from colonial leases given in perpetuity by the Portuguese, to the frenzy of illegal ore extraction in the 2000s, to the current auction-based system pushed through after judicial intervention.
Alvares described the mining belt as the “belly of Goa,” a region violently altered by unchecked extraction that has left behind cratered landscapes, poisoned streams and irreparable ecological loss. While the Western Ghats represented the higher reaches of Goa, he said, the mining belt represented the belly. “Middle part, the belly is the mining belt where all the valuable minerals are. And then, you have, of course, the coastal plains, where we have to actually raise something which we are expecting. So, it’s a sort of a solid attack on the anatomy of Goa.”
Basu focused on the financial haemorrhaging caused by outdated mining policies over the years. Between 2004 and 2012 alone, Goa exported minerals worth ₹88,000 crores, but the state received a mere ₹3,000 crores in return. “That’s less than ₹5 out of every ₹100,” he stated. “The rest was captured by mining companies and the central government. And of that ₹5, none was saved, our children inherited nothing,” he added, leveraging the importance of intergenerational equity.
Both speakers emphasised that minerals, like all natural resources, are not the property of the government of the day but a shared inheritance of all citizens, especially future generations. “We are not anti-mining. We are against theft disguised as policy,” Basu said. He proposed a model based on five core principles: inheritance of natural resources, extraction only if zero loss is ensured, creation of a permanent fund from proceeds, equal citizen dividends and public oversight. Under this model, he said, Goa’s residents could each receive a dividend of ₹1,500 a month if mineral wealth were managed transparently.
The Goa Foundation’s long-standing efforts over the years have led to landmark Supreme Court decisions, including the cancellation of illegal leases and the establishment of a ‘Permanent Fund’ meant to safeguard wealth for future generations. Yet, as Alvares cautioned, “Money meant for the future is being eyed by those in power today.”
Both speakers, during their talk at MOG Sundays, issued a call to action for citizens, particularly urban Goans, who often see mining as a distant issue, to engage in monitoring, legal intervention and digital advocacy. “Mining is no longer just an environmental or economic issue. It’s a moral one,” Basu concluded. “And the only way we protect our inheritance is if we all act as trustees of the future.”
Image 1: Claude Alvares, founder of the Goa Foundation, spoke about the new mining policy in Goa at the recent MOG Sundays talk held at the Museum of Goa (MOG), Pilerne in North Goa.
Image 2: Rahul Basu (left), Research Director at the Goa Foundation and organisation’s founder, Claude Alvares (right), during a MOG Sundays talk at the Museum of Goa (MOG), Pilerne in North Goa.The duo outlined five principles calling for zero-loss extraction, citizen benefit and treating Goa’s minerals as shared inheritance.
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