Policy tweaks increased revenue, checked illegal mining, claims minister

Punjab Mining and Geology Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal has said the changes made in the state’s quarrying policy resulted in higher revenue and a drastic decline in illegal operations.

The minister claimed that the introduction of the landowner and crusher mining sites had transformed the sector while reducing dependence on raw material from other states.

“The initiative has also helped curb illegal mining by bringing more stakeholders into the legal framework,” he claimed.

The minister, however, did not disclose the revenue numbers.

He said since the rollout of the amended policy, his department had received over 300 applications for crusher and landowner mining sites.

He said till now, letters of intent have been issued for 23 crusher mining sites and four for landowner mining sites.

Goyal said these were expected to become operational between December 2025 and March 2026 after environmental clearances.

He said the government had launched the process to auction 29 commercial mining sites, containing 11.58 crore cubic feet of raw material.

This, he said, would be the first auction exercise in the past three years.

The minister said nearly 100 additional sites would be auctioned in a phased manner to further increase the legal supply of raw material and strengthen the mining ecosystem.