VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to collect the evidence with regard to the irregularities that took place in mining of sand, silica and quartz during the previous YSRC regime.
On Wednesday, Naidu held a review meeting with the officials on the functioning of the Mines and Geology Department in the past five years.
He also took stock of the agreements with the private agencies and the irregularities and loss caused to the government in sand mining in the past five years.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that as against the 24% growth rate achieved during 2014-19 was declined to 7% during 2019-24 causing a loss of Rs 9,750 crore to the exchequer due to the erratic policies and other irregularities in the previous regime.
They further informed that the private agencies did not pay Rs 1,025 crore to the government and cases were registered against them.
Asserting that the government is committed to implementing the free sand policy as promised, the Chief Minister said people can take sand after paying the charges for excavation, seigniorage and transport charges.
Making it clear that sand should not be a burden to the people, he asked the officials to think about implementation of a sand policy through the staff of village secretariats and panchayat offices.
“The government is not aspiring to generate any revenue through sand. Its intention is to create a mechanism to supply sand to the people without giving scope for any irregularities,” he averred.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister gave his approval for the proposal of the officials to permit sale of sand in patta lands after the payment of seigniorage charges.
The officials said though sand is available at Rs 150 per tonne in some locations, it is not available at the same price in stock points at some places because of transportation cost from long distances.
Directing the officials to prepare proposals to take sand to the customer directly from the reaches, the Chief Minister felt that though there will be no scarcity of the construction material in the present season, the difficulties in the issue of price should be resolved at the earliest.
Informing that 45,000 metric tonnes of sand is being supplied at present, the officials said a target has been set to generate Rs 500 crore additional revenue through the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation this year.
Suggesting the officials to focus on adding value to the minerals available in the State, Naidu said emphasis should be laid on the industries that will make the minerals better.
Mentioning the illegal mining of silica and quartz in the erstwhile undivided Nellore district, the official said large scale irregularities took place and they have identified that the mining activities were taken up without approvals and in violation of norms. The Chief Minister directed the officials to take up a comprehensive inquiry into the matter to punish those involved in the illegal mining of minerals.