HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government, through AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), intends to enter into oil and natural gas exploration. The state government requested the Central government to allocate on-shore oil and natural gas blocks to APMDC for exploration on nomination basis to cater to the needs. This was mentioned in the AP Socio-Economic Survey 2013-14, which was tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday.
The revenue on the production of oil and gas from off-shore presently enjoyed by the Central government, shall be shared with the state government for infrastructure development, the survey said.
The state government also pursued with the Central geological agencies for exploration of diamond, gold, base metals, rare earths, beach sand minerals, volcanic ash and granites. The other initiatives taken by the state included identification of exclusive quarry zones around Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Chittoor districts.
The state government also encouraged the APMDC for establishment of low grade iron ore benefication plant at Ongole and largescale mining of galaxy granite in Prakasam district.
MINERAL-RICH STATE: The survey highlighted that minerals form a major contributor to the economic growth of the state. AP is a mineral-rich state containing a vast variety of mineral wealth particularly industrial minerals. The state is a house for various minerals specifically, crude oil, natural gas, barytes, bauxite, heavy mineral beach sand, manganese, limestone, dolomite, quartz, feldspar, silica sand, semi-precious stones, ball clay, laterite, iron ore, gold and diamonds, mica, asbestos, calcite, uranium, lead, zinc, shale, pyrophyllite, steatite, serpentine among other minerals.