Panaji, Nov 16 (IANS): Union Minister of State for Ports Mansukh Mandviya has agreed to conduct a study on the diversification of services at Goa's only major port, the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), amid protests over a feared increase in coal handling at the facility, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday.

"The Ports Minister is expected in Goa soon. We have requested him to compile a study to start other activities (at the MPT). He has agreed to it," Sawant told reporters on the sidelines of a government function in Panaji.

During his visit to the national capital last week, Sawant had met Mandviya in the wake of protests in Goa over fears of increased coal imports and transportation in the state.

After his return, Sawant had said on Sunday that Mandviya had assured to set up a special committee to suggest diversification of the MPT's cargo and services portfolio.

Sawant had also said that RORO services and ropeway transportation systems if introduced at the Goa port, could reduce the facility's dependency on coal import and handling.

Nearly 50,000 trees located in the Western Ghats region of Goa are slotted for felling for the multiple central government projects, which include expansion of railway lines and highways and drawing of a new high tension power, spread across protected forests in and around Mollem village.

The projects have already been cleared by the National Wildlife Board in April this year.

The opposition, as well as civil society groups and tourism stakeholders, have expressed apprehension that the projects were getting pushed at an "express pace" to facilitate the movement of coal imported through the Mormugao Port Trust facility in Goa to steel mills in Karnataka's Bellary district and nearby areas.