A.P. turns to sale of sand to bridge loan waiver shortfall

The cash-strapped Andhra Pradesh government, with a financial burden of over Rs. 70,000 crore to fulfil the poll promise of loan waiver to farmers and women self-help groups, is now banking on the Tamil Nadu model for additional revenue generation, through sale of sand.

Under the new system, the government has done away with private parties who quarried the sand and brought in women self-help groups to take over the quarrying contracts. These women’s groups will retain 25 per cent of the revenue while the rest will go to the exchequer.

The new model is expected to fetch over Rs. 4,000 crore this year according to the economic advisor to the State, C Kutumbarao.

The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation has submitted a detailed report to the government.