India no longer features among the most attractive regions for investment in the mining sector, as a possible fall-out of a mining ban in Goa, says an international report. According to the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining companies, after being ranked among the bottom 10 countries at 97 of 104 in the investment attractiveness index in 2016, and at 73 in 2015, India has been dropped from the list of 91 countries in 2017.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had cancelled all the iron ore mining leases in Goa, effective mid-March. The mining ban in the state would expectedly have a far-reaching impact not only on the state, but also on the country’s image as an investment destination, a report by the Vancouver-, Canada-based public policy think tank noted.
During the last 10 years, iron ore mining has added Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer and brought in around $7 billion worth of foreign exchange, according to the report. “The limitations put by the legislative system on the mining industry in the form of a cap on iron mining (in Goa and Karnataka), high export duty, and permission for export (of iron ore from Karnataka) would impact not only investment options in the country but also all those individuals directly connected to the sector. This would further generate a slump on the already adverse unemployment rate in the country,” the agency warned.
The survey is ranked by combining a metric ‘best practices mineral potential’ index, which rates regions based on their geologic attractiveness, and the ‘policy perception index’, a composite index that measures the effects of government policy on attitudes toward exploration investment, a statement said here. “However, the policy perception index alone does not recognise the fact that investment decisions are often sizeably based on the pure mineral potential of a jurisdiction,” the report concluded.
