Panaji: Rampant extraction of iron ore for export was steadily eating away India's national wealth, retired Supreme Court judge M.B. Shah, who heads a commission probing illegal mining in several states, said Saturday.

Justice Shah is probing unlawful mining in Goa, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. His team has been camping in Goa for the last two days -- visiting mining leases, interviewing bureaucrats and inspecting documents, related to the more than 100 operational iron ore mines in the state.

"We are depleting our national wealth only because of exports. I have already submitted a report on remedial measures which the (central) government can take to restrict illegal mining," Shah told reporters after a public hearing on the issue of illegal mining in Goa.

Justice Shah, who heads the nine-member commission, would be submitting a comprehensive report on the Goa mining scandal to the central government within 45 days.

"Illegal mining started because of the export boom. Export prices were more than 20 times of the local prices for iron ore. The returns from iron ore were a lot more," Shah said.

The scope of Shah's commission is to identify illegal mining, unlawful trade of iron ore and pinning down illegitimate extraction of ore without payment of royalty.

When asked if the commission was in a position to recommend recovery of royalty from people and establishments which defrauded the state exchequer by illegally extracting ore, Shah said: "If the royalty lost (by the exchequer) can be quantified, then the government will have the power to recover it."

Shah's team also includes Indian Forest Service officer U.V. Singh, whose exhaustive fieldwork led to the exposure of the multi-billion rupees Karnataka mining scam.

Leader of Opposition in Goa assembly Manohar Parrikar has accused Chief Minister Digambar Kamat as well as several cabinet ministers of being a part of the scandal.

Goa exported nearly 54 million tonnes of iron ore in the last financial year. Parrikar has claimed that nearly 20 percent of it was from illegal mining.