Chandigarh: A two-day e-auction of sand mines in Punjab culminated with total bids worth a whopping Rs 1,026 crore secured for 89 mines – the highest ever earnings for the state government from the sand mining business.
“The successful bid amount is more than 20 times last year’s bids of just Rs 40 crore, indicating the extent to which the sand mafia was controlling the business, causing huge losses to the state coffers,” said an official spokesperson. The release of surplus sand into the market will lead to easing of pressure, thus earning huge revenue for the state government, which will eventually lead to significant lowering of sand prices, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said after the e-auctions.
He allayed fears of the high progressive bidding, triggering a price increase. As many as 1,000 bidders participated in the e-auction of 102 mines conducted by the Department of Mining in four blocks on May 19 and 20 under the supervision of a retired High Court judge and two IAS officers from other departments. Of the 102 mines put on auction, earnest money was received against 94, of which a total of 89 mines were finally auctioned, the spokesperson said.
The new mines for which the e-auctions have been successfully conducted will release an estimated 1.30 crore tonnes of material into the market, thus adding to the existing capacity of 1.05 crore tonnes. Located in the high-demand areas,the mines, once operational, will fill the yawning supply demand gap for sand in the state to ease the pricing pressure. (PTI)
