If the Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry (FIGSI) has its way, the price of granite slabs in the State may reduce “considerably”. By urging the Centre to bring granite as a “major” mineral, the FIGSI hopes to reduce the royalty on mining, and make the industry domestically and internationally competitive.
At present, granite is considered a “minor” mineral, bringing it under the purview of the State government. This has led to different States applying differing rates of royalties, with Karnataka topping the charts at 15 per cent.
While the State charges between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 4,000 per cubic metre of granite based on quality, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu charge between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 3,000, said S. Krishna Prasad, FIGSI vice-president.
“This has made our products uncompetitive domestically and in international markets,” said R. Sekar, president, FIGSI at the National Seminar on dimensional stone quarrying, environmental issues and community welfare. Instead, the federation says that granite should be treated on a par with diamond, gold and iron, which come under the Centre. “The royalties will reduce drastically (to around 5 per cent). This means the prices reduce considerably for consumers here too,” Mr. Sekar told The Hindu.
If the proposal comes to fruition, policies for granite will be implemented uniformly and the federation expects the quarrying industry to grow drastically in production.
While Karnataka allows a maximum of 50 acres to be quarried, major minerals can be mined in areas of up to 50 hectares. N. Ramakrishnan, Deputy Secretary, Union Ministry of Commerce, said the Ministry will look into the proposal.
However, the State government is expected to oppose the proposal. Tushar Girinath, State’s Secretary of Mines, called the proposal “unnecessary”.
“In fact, we are asking the Centre to handover major minerals to the State government. The State royalties have been calculated on market value, and to ensure the benefit of mining is spread across the people of the State.”
