Chandrasekhar Shirodkar, 48, returned from Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s. When he came back to Maem, a village in the north-eastern mining belt of India’s western state Goa, he decided to buy a truck. “Mining was a booming industry in Goa, and I thought I would earn a good living with the truck,” he said. “And my driving skills are good.”
Shirodkar bought a truck in 1998 and began transporting iron ore from the village which has two large private mines of Chowgule Group and Sesa Goa Iron Ore of Vedanta Group.
He is among hundreds of drivers involved in the ecosystem supporting Goa’s mining industry. Iron ore mining has been the mainstay of Goa’s economy for the last five decades until it was stopped in 2012. At its peak, in 2009-10, it contributed over 17% to Goa’s Gross State Domestic Product. The iron ore was mainly exported to China, Japan, Europe and…