VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday informed Rajya Sabha that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Veligonda Project was not submitted to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
In a reply to a question raised by YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy, the Minister said as the Veligonda project proposal was not submitted to the Central Water Commission for Techno-Economic-Assessment (TEA), the advisory committee for the Ministry of Jal Shakti has not approved the project.
Stating that Veligonda project was included in Schedule 11 of the AP Reorganisation Act, the AP government said it should be treated as an approved project, and sought permission of the Ministry to operate Veligonda project, last October, Shekawat said.
Further, the State government has sought exemption to Veligonda project from KRMB Gazette notification clause which states that those projects which were not approved should get environment clearance in six months from the issue of notification, he added.
The Minister said as per KRMB gazette notification, Veligonda project is in the list of the projects which were not approved. Gajendra Shekhawat clarified that any project not in the approved list, even if they are included in schedule 1,2 or 3, cannot be deemed to have been approved.
Answering another question raised by Vijayasai Reddy, Union Minister for Mines Pralhad Joshi said as per the gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Mines in 2019, the threshold value of monazite in beach sand was reduced from 0.75 per cent to zero. As a result, beach sand minerals above the said value can be mined only by government corporations.
Visakhapatnam and EG among top 30 export districts
VIJAYAWADA: Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts stood among the 30 top districts in the country in terms of exports. Key products include drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and marine products. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Visakhapatnam’s total export stood at $2755.02 million while that of EG at $2,427.22 million.