Rejecting the allegations made by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on sand mining, Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Krishank Manne said the revenue from sand mining has increased to Rs.5,901.73 crore in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government from meagre Rs. 39.66 crore in Congress regime.
In a statement here, he said that Mr. Gandhi had turned into a script reader and was making baseless accusations about sand policy in Telangana. “Can Rahul Gandhi answer why the revenue from sand increased 149 times in the BRS regime when compared to the Congress Government?” All this happened thanks to the vision of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, he said.
“Prior to the introduction of the New Sand Mining Policy, revenue between 2007 and 2014 was Rs 39.66 crores. The price of sand was also more than Rs 1500 per tonne and that sand was not available on a regular basis. After the introduction of new policy, so far an amount of Rs. 5,901.73 crore for 1,512.11 lakh Mts of sand was earned by the government, he said.
Mr. Krishank said sand was also available during the rainy season without any shortage and rates were also under control, and there has been no increase in the rates in the open market from 2014 to date. Secretary Mines, Government of India not only appreciated the futuristic policy of CM KCR but also informed other states to adopt Telangana policy, he said.
He said the Telangana policy was studied by at least seven States including a delegation led by Congress Minister Navjot Singh Siddu, when Congress was in power in Punjab.
