Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, called for stronger enforcement of the state’s free‑sand policy on Friday. During a review of the mining sector at the Secretariat, he warned officials that the policy could be hijacked by vested interests and urged them to put citizens first.
Officials told the CM that Andhra Pradesh still has about 4.3 million tonnes of sand under reserve. To stop smuggling, Naidu ordered the installation of CCTV cameras at state borders and requested that the distribution of free sand be tracked through the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) system.
The minister also laid out revenue goals for the 2025‑26 fiscal year. Mining is expected to bring in ₹3,320 crore, a potential 34 % jump over previous years, with manganese mining projected to contribute 74 % of that total. “We need to add value to what we mine,” Naidu said. He pointed out that Odisha earns ₹50,000 crore from mining alone and asked his team to prepare a vision plan that could raise Andhra Pradesh’s mining revenues by an extra ₹20,000‑30,000 crore.
To speed up the process, Naidu instructed officials to clear 6,500 pending mining‑lease applications. He also set new guidelines to lease 15 % of mines to the Vaddera community and promised a 50 % subsidy on seigniorage and premiums to help them start MSMEs.
The chief minister added that officials should verify whether raw materials for the Kadapa steel plant can be sourced reliably. He stressed the importance of technology in monitoring mining activity, proposing the use of satellite imagery and drones for real‑time analysis.
Mining Minister Kollu Ravindra and other officials were present at the meeting.
Source: ianslive
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