VIJAYAWADA: Refuting the allegation of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu that YSRC leaders looted Rs 40,000 crore through illegal mining of sand, Mines and Geology Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy dared him to take over the entire sand operations in the State by paying Rs 4,000 crore to the government.
Explaining in detail the government’s sand policy through a PowerPoint presentation at the State Secretariat on Thursday, he asserted that there was no truth in the allegations of Naidu and his son Lokesh.
“Naidu has no right to speak on sand as the previous TDP regime issued 19 GOs pertaining to the sand policy only to mint money out of it,” he observed.
Notwithstanding Naidu’s claim of implementing the free sand policy, TDP leaders had made the sand a monthly income source by taking up mining activities in violation of norms, he alleged. The government is getting a revenue of Rs 765 crore per year and it will be Rs 3,825 crore for five years as per the new sand policy, he explained and sought to know what happened to the thousands of crores of rupees during the previous TDP regime. Peddireddy accused Lokesh of getting Rs 500 crore per year by running the sand mafia during the previous TDP regime.
Informing that 6.70 crore tonnes of sand was mined in the past four-and-a-half-years and the government got Rs 2,300 crore revenue, he said the GST will be paid by the contract agency. About 64 lakh tonnes of sand is available in 136 stock points in the State. Asserting that the reforms rolled out by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy have resulted in an increase in revenue of the mines and geology department, he said, “The revenue has increased from Rs 1,950 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 4,756 crore in 2022-23. Similarly, the revenue of AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) has increased to Rs 1,806 crore from Rs 833 crore in 2018-19.”
Revealing that the sand operations contract was extended by another year to JP Power Venture Limited, Peddireddy said the firm was taking up sand mining based on the GO itself. He made it clear that the government is in no way connected to the subcontract agreements.