No illegal mines in Goa: Parrikar

Panaji, July 27: There are no illegal mines operating in Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the state legislative assembly on Thursday.

Parrikar said this in a written reply to a question tabled by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, adding that there are 48 operational mines in the state.

The Supreme Court in 2012 had banned the 90 odd mining companies operational at the time, after a Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam was exposed by a Judicial Commission headed by Justice M.B. Shah.

No major mining industry player has been arrested yet despite the Commission indictment of most mining companies operational then, as well as top bureaucrats and politicians in Goa's largest scam ever.