Panaji, Sep 23 (IANS): Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Subhash Shirodkar Friday said there were several Congress legislators and ministers involved in the mining business, but ruled out that any of them were involved in illegal mining.

Speaking to reporters here, Shirodkar also said if there were any mining-related illegalities in Goa "they could not be as big as those in Karnataka".

"I myself own trucks which work on mines. Mining is a legal activity," Shirodkar said, when asked about mining illegalities in which several state Congress leaders are alleged to be involved.

When queried about several red flags raised by the Justice M.B. Shah commission -- appointed by the Supreme Court to probe illegal mining in India -- during inspections conducted by the nine-member commission team, Shirodkar said: "There is a vast difference between irregularities and illegalities."

A Congress legislator and former deputy chief minister of Goa, Dayanand Narvekar pegged the Goa mining scam at Rs.10,000 crore in his deposition before the Shah Commission last week.