The Bengal government is set to frame a new policy that will put in place a centralised system for the mining of minor minerals like black stone, limestone and quartz on private land amid complaints that local politicians control illegal mining and the state’s coffers are deprived of revenue.
A recent meeting of the Bengal cabinet had decided to allow mining on private plots.
Sources said if the new policy was implemented properly, the state’s revenue generation would increase by a few hundred crore rupees within the next year.
“We have shown how a centralised system for controlling sand mines can increase government revenue. If the new mining policy is implemented, it would undoubtedly enrich the state’s coffers at a time the government is facing a financial crisis,” said a senior industry department official.
According to an official, the Bengal government used to get around Rs 100 crore annually as revenue from the sand mines till the centralised system of the auction had been introduced last year. This year’s revenue has already crossed Rs 350 crore.
Chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi on Wednesday afternoon introduced district magistrates to the new government policy on the mining of minor minerals on private land.
The industry department would elaborate on the new policy to district land department officials on November 21. Officials said there were hundreds of mines to excavate black stone, limestone, China clay and quartz, especially in the western districts of Birbhum, West Burdwan, Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura.
The government has no database of those mines, except a few, because most of them are illegal.
“The government can’t auction off minerals found under the surface of private land. However, most of these units run illegally, hurting the state’s interests. In the new policy, we would give mining licences to the owner or group of owners of the land. We would also help them get environmental clearance,” said a senior official.
If the owners cannot mine the plots on their own, they can lease out their land to other parties for the purpose.
“If you take the example of Birbhum, there are around 210 stone mines. Of them, over 200 are running illegally,” the official added.
According to the policy, the government would have a centralised portal where anyone or group having a stretch of at least one hectare of land, under which minerals are found, can apply for a mining licence.
Once the application is received, land department officials will conduct field verification and check the documents to find out whether mining is possible there.
If the land is suitable for mining, the owner can be given provisional permission, based on which she/he can get a mining plan prepared by a qualified agency and get it approved by the authority concerned.
The owner will submit an application for environmental clearance (EC) to the state environment impact assessment authority.
“We will help them get those processes done. In the case of sand mines, the private players performed these formalities with our help,” said another official.
The mining lease shall be granted for a period of five years or till the reserve is exhausted, whichever is earlier, with a provision of extension for up to five years at a time.
