Telangana government scraps lease of idle mines

Hyderabad: The TS government has decided to cancel the mining leases of non-functional mines in state.  Of the 135 major mineral mines existing in the state, 51 are non-functional. Of the 2,776 minor minerals mines, 909 are non-functional at present. Mining minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday directed officials to also cancel all the mining applications that are pending for the last 16 years and invite fresh applications.

He said that the mining department should contribute to the income of state government, provide employment to people and not just benefit miners. “Governments in undivided AP had resorted to several irregularities in granting mining leases. The leases were issued to benefit certain individuals and institutions but not the state. In turn, they received kickbacks from miners,” Mr Rama Rao said, while reviewing the activities of mining department.

Mr Rama Rao directed officials to issue notices to all leaseholders who failed to take up mining activities even after securing government approvals some years ago. “Apart from issuing notices, licences of those who failed to take up mining activities within the deadlines should also be cancelled. We should not allow leaseholders to sit idle for years together and cause loss to the state,” he added.

Mr Rama Rao asked officials to make the entire mining lease approval process online to make it transparent and check irregularities. He directed them to use e-office software in mining department. Mr Rama Rao said the government was ready to offer incentives to those who come forward to set up mining-related industries in remote areas.