Hyderabad: Curbing illegal sand mining has fetched huge revenues for the state government.
Till 2014, the government used to get just Rs 10 crore in Telangana region, but after bifurcation, the state has earned Rs 419 crore in 2016-17 through sand mining.
“After formation of Telangana, revenue earnings through sand mining increased from Rs 10 crore in 2014 to Rs 374 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 419 crore in 2016-17. This shows that how natural resources were looted in undivided AP. We have tightened the norms and curbed illegal sand mining due to which huge funds were earned for the state exchequer,” said K.T. Rama Rao, minister for industries and mines.
Mr Rao said TS also topped the country in mineral revenue collection in 2016-17. TS earned Rs 3,169 crore in 2016-17 against Rs 2,369 crore in 2015-16, recording 34 per cent growth rate, the highest in the country.
Rajasthan stood second with growth rate of 16 per cent, followed by AP (14 per cent), Karnataka (12 per cent), Chhattisgarh (10 per cent), Tamil Nadu (3 per cent), while Odisha and Jharkhand witnessed negative growth of 13 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
