The Bengal government has identified 30 new sand blocks and decided to start their mining under the state’s new policy from December in an attempt to generate more revenue.
Under the new sand policy, the state government will not auction sand mines but instead engage agencies to mine sand and dump it at designated stack yards, following which it would auction the sand.
The new policy will help the state take complete control of the multi-crore sand trade.
“The policy would be first implemented with the 30 new sand mines identified in districts like East Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura and Alipurduar. It remains to be seen if the policy works well in these 30 new sand mines before all 900 other sand mines come under the control of the government,” said a senior official.
According to sources, as of now the state government auctions the sand mines to private players who mine and sell sand. Under this system, the government only gets an auction amount and a royalty on sand mined. “The Bengal government (right now) gets around Rs 1,000 crore from auction and royalty of sand in a year… The figure could jump to Rs 3,500 crore when all sand mines come under direct control of the state government,” said an official.
According to sources, all existing 900 sand mines have been auctioned a few years ago for a period of 5 years. So, the state has to wait till mid-2023 to get complete control them.
Considering that the new sand policy would not be implemented on a majority of the sand mines as of now, Bengal chief secretary H. K. Dwivedi asked the district magistrate to find out new sand mines in an attempt to generate more revenue at a time when the state government is facing trouble to run welfare schemes including Lakshmir Bhandar that requires Rs 17,000 crore annually.
Sources in the administration said apart from revenue, mining on new sand blocks would also help the ruling party test waters politically.
“Spoils of sand mines, auctioned to private agencies, lead to ruling party feuds… The new sand mines will help us figure out if the new policy keeps local strongmen away from the trade,” said a source.
