The Andhra Pradesh government on July 8 (Monday) launched the supply of sand to consumers without charging any revenue share, except for the cost of operations and statutory levies and taxes.
With this, the policies related to sand mining and supply launched by the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government— New Sand Mining Policy-2019 and Upgraded Sand Policy-2021— have been withdrawn.
The NDA government in the State launched an interim mechanism for sand supply which will continue until the formulation of a new policy in this regard. The officials said that this initiative was launched to ensure that the sand supply mechanism was not disturbed for convenience of the consumers.
N. Yuvaraj, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce (Mines) Department, released the G.O. Ms. No. 43 on July 8 (Monday), enforcing the new guidelines with immediate effect and constituting District-Level Sand Committees (DLSCs) headed by the respective District Collectors as Chairpersons, along with 12 other officers as the members to oversee the excavation, storage, sale and transportation of sand.
DLSCs to fix price
The consumers will be charged the cost of operations, along with the statutory levies and taxes. The cost of operations includes the expenditure for activities such as excavation, loading, transportation to the point of sale, ramp maintenance and administrative expenses. The statutory levies and taxes mean seignorage fee, DMF, MERIT and GST as applicable.
Restrictions imposed on sand purchase
The State government has imposed the following restrictions to check hoarding and blackmarketing of sand
The DLSCs will fix and notify the amount to be charged at each source such as depots, de-siltation points, based on the cost of operations and the statutory levies and taxes. The DLSCs are authorised to modify these rates, wherever necessary, taking into consideration the changes in operating costs, levies and taxes from time to time.
The details of all depots, de-siltation points (referred as “stockyard”) such as location, available quantity, notified charges will be displayed at www.mines.ap.gov.in, the website of the Department of Mines and Geology, daily.
Process of purchase
The consumers need to go to stockyards where the in-charge will collect the relevant details from consumers such as Aadhaar card, mobile number, delivery address and number of transport vehicles. The notified charges will be collected through digital mode and the sale receipt or invoice will be issued to the consumers. The sand will be supplied on a first-come-first-served basis. The loading of sand to vehicles will be monitored. The dispatch permits will be issued manually immediately. The stockyards will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To prevent hoarding and blackmarketing of sand, each consumer will be allowed to purchase a maximum of 20 MT o f sand per day till the supplies stabilise.
