Tamil Nadu quarry, lorry owners to go on strike over mine tax
COIMBATORE/SALEM: Demanding the withdrawal of the mineral-bearing land tax, members of the Tamil Nadu Stone Quarries, Crusher Units and Lorry Owners Association across the state will launch an indefinite strike from Wednesday.
The mines department started imposing the mineral-bearing land tax of Rs 90 for one unit of crushed stone from April 4.
K Chinnasamy, president of the association, said, “The state government imposed the same tax in February. However, after we took it up with the state government, it was temporarily stopped. Now, the mines department has started implementing it again.
We want the new tax system to be withdrawn immediately, as we are paying an extra Rs 1,370 for a unit of crushed stone. Many are unable to run the units due to the additional financial burden. We are paying this tax once a week or once every ten days,” said Chinnasamy.
Muthu Govindan, secretary of the association, said the mines department has also increased the seigniorage fee from cubic meters to one tonne, which resulted in paying Rs 259 to the department instead of the earlier Rs 90.
“We are not increasing the price of building materials, despite paying mineral-bearing land tax and seigniorage fee, as it will burden the users in the construction industry,” Chinnasamy added.
Speaking to media persons in Salem, Raja, president of the Salem Region Stone Crusher Manufacturers Association said that the price of crushed stones may reach Rs 5,000, up from the existing Rs 3,500-Rs 4,000. Likewise, a unit of M-sand will cost up to Rs 7,000, against the existing rate of Rs 3,500-Rs 4,000.
Meanwhile, experts in the construction sector demanded the state government to hold talks with the members of the association and solve their grievances, as prolonging their indefinite protest would push up the cost of construction.
Speaking to TNIE, D Abishek, a member of CREDAI National Urban Development Committee said, “The indefinite strike will create a big impact in the construction industry since nearly 70% of construction materials such as sand and crushed stones, among others, are sourced from quarries and stone crushing units.
The quarry owners association has already increased their prices four times within the eight-month period. Each time, the association members give different reasons for the hike, resulting in an increase in construction cost between 20-30%. This will increase further due to the strike. The protest will also lead to job losses for lakhs of construction workers.”