Now, pvt land owners in Punjab can mine sand, gravel
Individuals and crushers can now mine the minor minerals (sand and gravel) on the land owned by them by paying a royalty to the Punjab Government. This will help increase the supply of legally mined minerals and bring down the retail prices of sand and gravel for the common man.
These are some of the amendments to the Punjab Minor Minerals Policy that were approved by the Council of Ministers during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today.
The Cabinet also approved another amendment to the policy that allows government land to be cleared of sand on a “mission mode” with Deputy Commissioners authorised to grant NOCs for it. With the government proposing to auction 104 mining sites soon, the contractors will now be entrusted with the responsibility of obtaining environmental clearance. Till now, the state government was getting the EC for contractors.
Other key Cabinet decisions
The Cabinet has given its nod to the Mukh Mantri Teerath Yatra Scheme, allowing all over 50 years of age to avail free trips to religious places within and outside the state
The government will bear the entire expense for the pilgrimage to be undertaken in buses and trains. A budget of Rs 100 crore has been set aside for this
The government has also decided to launch the School Mentorship Scheme, initially in 80 Schools of Eminence. State’s IAS, IPS and IFS officers will have to adopt one school and provide mentorship to students for a five-year period
The idea, say official sources, is to increase the supply of sand and gravel in the market, and help the cash-strapped state government earn additional revenue from legal mining operations. In 2023-24, the state government earned Rs 288.52 crore through mining operations, and between April and October 2024, the state government earned Rs 109.21 crore as revenue from mining.
With the new amendments, the state government hopes to increase its mining revenue to Rs 800 crore, according to a draft report prepared by the Department of Mines and Geology and Punjab Development Commission. This Report, which had said legal supply of sand and gravel in Punjab represented only 4 per cent of the total available material (while the rest 96 per cent minerals are illegally mined or brought from outside the state), forms the basis of the amendments to the mining policy.
As of now, there are two categories of mines that are operational – 63 commercial and 72 public. Only 34 crore cubic feet of sand and gravel is available from these sites, as against a demand of 300 crore cubic feet.
Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said the amendments to the mining policy would help them increase the revenue from mining manifold. “The royalty to be charged for crushing of gravel has been increased from Rs 0.73 per cubic feet to Rs 3.20 per cubic feet, while royalty for sand has been increased from Rs 0.73 per cubic feet to Rs 1.75 per cubic feet,” he said. Water Resources and Mining Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said these amendments would streamline the process of operating mining sites and put an end to illegal mining.
