Sand, gravel prices shoot up in Punjab as demand-supply gap widens

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, December 19

With the prices of sand and gravel hitting the roof, the Punjab Government has decided to set up sale centres for this basic construction material.

The first centre was opened today by Minister for Mines and Geology Harjot Bains in New Chandigarh. In days to come, the government proposes to open a sale centre in each district of the state, with the bigger districts like Ludhiana and Mohali getting two-four centres. However, since the minerals are being brought here from other states for sale, the cost (without transportation) will be Rs 28 per cubic ft.

500 FIRs registered

• Since the AAP came to power, around 500 FIRs have been registered against those involved in illegal mining.
• Govt now wants to start imposing Rs 2 lakh penalty on the owner of each tipper carrying illegally mined minerals.
• In case the tipper owners fail to pay the fine within 14 days, the tipper will be auctioned off by the government.

Ever since the Punjab and Haryana High Court imposed a complete ban on mining in the state last month, the prices of sand and gravel have gone up sharply. Across different cities, sand is now available at Rs 50-60 per cubic ft and gravel at Rs 43-55 per cubic ft. Just six months ago, the sand price was Rs 25-40 per cubic ft and that of gravel was Rs 20-30 per cubic ft.

The sand and gravel being sold in Punjab is being brought from the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Krishan Kumar, Principal Secretary, Mining, said the state was daily getting an estimated 98,000-1 lakh metric tonnes of sand and gravel from other states, and also through digging of the Shahpur Kandi reservoir.

“Previously, it was estimated that the annual demand for minor minerals was 350 lakh metric tonnes, which comes out to 95,000 MT daily. We are supplying more than this,” he said.

In spite of this, the rates are going up.

Official sources said this was because the previous mining policy had deliberately quoted a lower figure for demand. This was a cover to allow illegal mining as the large-scale illegally mined minor minerals would find its way to the market and prices would remain low, said the sources.

“Since illegal mining is now mostly under control,” claimed the officer, “there is a huge gap in demand and supply, fuelling price rise.”

Bains said the term of the previous mining policy would get over in February, which would pave the way for bringing a new mining policy. “We are also working to get the court ban lifted. This will treble our supply. We will bring new policy and it will ensure that sand is made available to consumers at Rs 15-16 per cubic ft and gravel at Rs 20-21 per cubic ft,” he said.