The State government will unveil its granite policy only after the Central government finalises the national mining policy.
Officials of the State Industries Department, under whose control come geology and mining, say that even though the broad contours of the State’s policy are ready, the government would like to wait for the publication of the Centre’s policy document to ensure consistency and conformity.
The Union government is now engaged in a review of the National Mineral Policy, 2008, following the Supreme Court’s judgment in August this year.
The court had asked the Centre to revisit the Mineral Policy, which, it said, “seems to be only on paper and is not being enforced, perhaps due to the involvement of very powerful vested interests or a failure of nerve.” As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, when the DMK was in power during 2006-11, the regime brought out a draft granite policy in 2009, after which there was no follow-up.
The AIADMK, in its manifesto released ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls, had referred to the formulation of one such policy.
In June 2016, the then Governor K. Rosaiah told the House that the proposed policy would be framed. The need for such a policy assumes importance in the light of an inquiry by U. Sagayam, an Indian Administrative Service officer, on the instruction of the High Court in September 2014, to probe allegations of granite loot in Madurai district.
Mr. Sagayam, in his report submitted, had contended that the State government had suffered a net revenue loss of ₹ 1.10 lakh crore.
