Illegal mining: Tamil Nadu government slaps Rs 3.5K cr notice on six firms

Mining of beach minerals has been banned in Tamil Nadu since November 2013, but these companies were engaged in illegal mining even after the ban.
Demand orders have been sent to six firms in Tirunelveli & Kanniyakumari
Demand orders have been sent to six firms in Tirunelveli & KanniyakumariPhoto | Express
Updated on
2 min read

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government through the Tirunelveli district collector has ordered beach sand mining firm VV Minerals to pay Rs 2,195 crore towards ‘royalties’ and ‘cost of minerals’ for the natural resources allegedly unlawfully mined and transported between 2002-03 and 2013-14 in the district.

Demand orders have been sent to six firms in Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari district for a total value of Rs 3,528.36 crore, sources said.

The 45-page demand order dated December 16, 2024, sent to VV Minerals states that the firm had unlawfully mined 27.06 lakh metric tonnes of Garnet, Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon, Sillimanite and Leucoxene in the district during the period. For this, Rs 2,146.36 crore was to be paid as ‘price of mineral’ and Rs 48.82 crore as ‘royalties’ to the state government as per Section 21(5) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act for causing loss to the exchequer.

Mining of beach minerals has been banned in Tamil Nadu since November 2013, but these companies were engaged in illegal mining even after the ban.

According to official sources, the Thoothukudi administration may issue similar demand orders this week. The current orders issued are for 2002-03 to 2013-14 (pre-ban period). Demand orders for 2014-16 (post-ban period) are being processed.

According to the report of Dr V Suresh, amicus curiae appointed by the Madras High Court, the state must recover Rs 5,832 crore for ‘price of mineral’ and ‘royalties’ from miners holding 64 leases in the three districts towards the massive quantities of unlawfully mined beach sand from 2002-03 to 2016. Majority of the leases are held by VV Minerals. The report pegs the total quantity of illegally transported raw sand alone to 88.4 lakh metric tonnes

The three districts in January 2024 had issued show cause notices to all the miners for recovery of the dues based on reports submitted by the amicus curiae and a special committee headed by senior IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

In Tirunelveli district alone, the Bedi committee’s report pegged the extent of illegal mining across 188.47 acres in 15 of the 27 leases of VV Minerals to 33.62 lakh metric tonnes of raw sand. The amicus curiae’s report estimated it to be 37.53 lakh metric tonnes by VV Minerals in the district. Of this, 28.63 lakh metric tonnes were Garnet, Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon, Sillimanite, and Leucoxene.

The Tirunelveli collector in his order said that both the reports have been studied and accepted as correct by the government.

According to the demand order, chances were given to VV Minerals to present their case during the proceedings, but the firm did not provide any material evidence to show that they did not involve or indulge in illegal activities specified in the show cause notice.

The order states that the amicus curiae had calculated the lessee-wise royalty and price of mineral to be recovered from the lease holders for the alleged illegality during the pre-ban (2002-03 to 2013-14) and post-ban (2014-2016).

As per the order, the mining firms can file an appeal against the order before an appropriate authority within a month.

The HC on Tuesday heard oral arguments from all parties in the beach sand mining case including the Tamil Nadu government, VV Minerals and its owner S Vaikundarajan and the amicus curiae and directed the parties to file written arguments by January 27.

Related Stories

No stories found.

X
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com