The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CCARI), Old Goa, held a meeting with the objective to form a mango farmers’ association. Organised by the institute’s fruit scientists, agriculturists and prominent mango farmers, it aimed to give a boost to Goa’s efforts in granting the mancurad mango geographical indication (GI) status.
The meeting also hoped to invest special efforts to tap important commercial varieties like the Hilario, Mussahrat, and Xavier and apply for GI status for them, as well.
Principal Scientist, Horticulture, ICAR-CCARI, A R Desai extended his support to the farmers and promised to provide them with any technical help that they might require.
In order to file the GI application, a group of farmers who have been growing the crop for a long time along with other benefactors must step forward to ensure that the GI status is achieved.
NGT rejects Goa’s CZMP extension pleas
The application, filed by the State government, seeking six months extension to complete and notify the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) with effect from August 31, 2021, was dismissed by the National Green Tribunal.
Goa’s first Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), prepared in 1996, was used as the base plan in 2011. The Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) has been working on the same plan since 2016.
In September 2020, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had demanded that the State government complete the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) before 31 January 2021.
The date was further extended until March 31, 2020, because of the covid-19 pandemic. The State, however, was directed to conduct a fresh hearing on July 8, 2021, when discrepancies arose in the public hearing held on March 7, 2021.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) received a number of suggestions and objections to the draft plan from all over Goa and required another 60 days to check the authenticity of the same.
Hence, the State sought more time finalise the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). The report was then to be sent to the NCSCM for final verification.
Go-ahead for charters hold up hopes of Goa’s tourism sector
Following the announcement of Union ministry of home affairs’ (MHA), Goa’s slacking hospitality industry is awash with reassurance that it would initiate granting fresh tourists visas to foreigners visiting India through chartered flights from October 15.
The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) had persuaded numerous authorities for sanction, for chartered flights to land in Goa. TTAG president Nilesh Shah said “Opening of the charter market will help all tourism stakeholders. Over 2,100 small hotels are yet to open,” and stated further that the Association is awaiting clarity on the process that will be followed to issue 5 lakh free visas, and the declaration of standard operating procedures (SOP) for international travellers.
The first charter to Goa generally lands by the third week of October, Chief Operating Officer at Sita Travels, Ernest Dias, said, “There are a lot of preparations to be made. We need to get parking slots, so we are looking at the first week of November for charter arrivals. Though it will be a month late, it is better than having nothing,” Dias added.
Other countries from where tourists arrive in Goa on charter flights included Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The MHA has declared that non-charter foreign tourists will be able to travel to India from mid-November, by following all covid-19 protocols.
E-AUCTION OF 31 PLOTS AT VERNA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has invited bids for e-auction of 31 plots earlier allotted to Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developers at the Verna Industrial Estate – Phase IV. Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) is supported by the Department of Public-Private Partnership in the e-auctioning process. The last date to submit bids through the e-tender is 21 October, 2021. Only plots meant for industrial use will be e-auctioned. The total area to be e-auctioned is five lakh square metres. The base rate for bidding for plots is estimated to be around `500 per square metre.
Five companies were previously allotted SEZ plots in the Verna Industrial Estate – Phase IV. After the SEZs were scrapped by the government and their recommendations withdrawn, the GIDC decided to take back the lands from all the SEZ parties and refund the amount paid.
Subsequently, in July 2018, the Supreme Court of India asked the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to make the refund within three months from the date of the order.
iRAD project launched Goa
The Goa Government has launched the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD), which is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Road and Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Funded by the World Bank, iRAD will establish an accurate and uniform accident data collection mechanism and analysis, and will introduce corrective interventions in policy and infrastructure in order to improve road safety in the country.
Mauvin Godinho, Transport Minister stated that iRAD will help in preventing accidents. The project is a comprehensive web-based information technology solution which will enable various agencies to enter details of a road accident from different perspectives such as details related to victims, investigation, road engineering, vehicle condition and include details like accurate location information. After the Police Department captures details of a road accident an alert will be sent to the officials of the transport and highways department through email and SMS.
Officials of the Police Department will then send a request to the Transport Department’s motor vehicle inspector asking for an inspection of the motor vehicle. After this inspection, details pertaining to the transport department will be captured and the accident information report accordingly generated.
Reimbursement of `213 crore GST to Goa
`40,000 crore was released to different states under the Centre’s back-to-back loan facility to meet the shortfall in GST collection and compensation. Goa received `213 crore from the Centre as reimbursement for GST shortfall. This is in addition to the normal GST compensation being released every two months out of the actual GST cess collection.
The Centre encourages States to utilize the funds to meet their public expenditure, particularly the improvement of health infrastructure and completion of infrastructure projects, through proper planning. Resumption in tourism and industrial activity, the tax collections in September hit pre-Covid levels. Goa has agreed to the Centre’s funding arrangements to meet the GST compensation shortfall.
The Centre has borrowed the funds through five-year and two-year bonds. No additional market borrowing by the Central Government is envisaged on account of this release.
TTAG TROUBLED ABOUT CHIPI CHALLENGE TO GOA’S TOURISM
With airport operations, commencing at the newly built Chipi airport in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) foresees increased competition to the State’s tourism in the coming years. The representative body of the local tourism trade said that it expects the airport to create ‘challenges for Goa tourism’ in the long term, looking at the hotels coming up across the border and all with an eye on tapping traffic in the Konkan region.
Nilesh Shah, President of TTAG said that Goa has to be prepared for higher competition as there were four five star hotels coming up in the Sindhudurg district to cater to the tourist traffic.
According to Shah, the impact of the new airport will not be felt immediately on tourism and stated that the tourism industry in Goa is well established in order to handle competition from a new destination. However, he added that the threat exists and the state needs to address issues affecting tourism to confront future competition.
TTAG wants the government to resolve the transport issue and while bringing in ease of doing business for investors setting up new hotels.
CII-Goa calls for improvement in logistics infrastructure
Anthony Gaskell, mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Goa State Panel on logistics, presented highlights on Goa’s logistics and emphasised the need to expedite development of holistic infrastructure which will give an integrated pathway to the Goan economy. Gaskell was speaking at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti scheme. Further, the CII spokesman stated that Goa has infrastructure facilities needed to be a logistics hub viz ports, rivers, national highways,
airports, central geographical location, upcoming ICD etc. Hence CII Goa has been impressing upon improving the logistics facilities/aspects for industry in Goa vide the CII Logistics Conferences held over the recent past. To become a successful multi-modal logistics hub, CII Goa suggested that good logistics support system is a basic requirement for trade and industry, much as electricity and water are. Lacking which, the costs of doing business hikes up, making businesses unviable. Goa also needs a modern container terminal at MPT operated professionally.
To keep the logistics costs competitive CII advocates that the implicit land price must be affordable and that Goa needs a modern air-cargo facility. The organisation hoped that this will come up fast at Mopa, and the facilities at Dabolim could also be improved. Truck parking facilities need to be provided all over Goa at the industrial estates and elsewhere, as town distribution centers for heavy items like building materials, was CII’s ask.
Scheme to streamline Goa’s shift to electric vehicles
The State, is planning to finalise the Goa Electric Vehicle Mobility Policy 2021, which will soon come out with a scheme addressing issues in electric vehicles (EVs), said Nilesh Cabral, Minister for Power. He said that the scheme will address issues such as of EV charging meters for commercial customers and also take up the concerns of Goans on the documentation required for availing subsidy. Cabral said that the state is proposing EV charging to commercial consumers at an extremely attractive rate of `3.50 per unit. The Power Minister spoke at an online public meeting organised by the Department of New and Renewable Energy and Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) to deliberate on the suggestions received from consumers on the proposed EV Mobility Policy.
The suggestions at the public meeting ranged from increasing the subsidy on EV purchase to lowering the investment limit for investors setting up green-field EV manufacturing units and incentives to scrap existing vehicles in favour of EVs, among others.
The EV Mobility Policy proposed by the government offers maximum subsidy of `30,000 to electric two-wheelers, `60,000 to three-wheelers and Rs three lakh for four-wheelers.
Scientist Dr Nandakumar Kamat, who participated in the online meeting, pointed out that the State needs to have more charging stations to promote EVs. Dr Kamat also spoke out against the green cess that the government proposes to levy to fund the implementation of the EV Policy.
