Mining revenues to go up by 30% next fiscal : KTR

Hyderabad: Telangana has been bestowed with abundant mineral reserves such as coal, limestone, dolomite, manganese, iron ore, uranium, granite, besides others. The State has identified mining as one of the core sectors and through its industrial policy has been attracting significant investments.

Emphasising that mining is one of the major growth engines for the State, Telangana Mining & Geology Minister K T Rama Rao said, with the efforts of the government, the State’s mining revenues are going to jump from Rs 3,170 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 3,500 crore in 2018-19, registering a 30 per cent increase.

Under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), the State has released Rs 1,328 crore so far which is being used for the districts where mining is done. And through TS-iPAS, Telangana is seeing employment generation in both mining and ancillary industry.

Addressing the miners, policy makers, machinery manufacturers at the inaugural of the four-day Mining Today 2018 conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday, the Minister said, “The online system that we have introduced is allowing quicker filing and processing besides issuing statutory approvals.”

KTR informed, Telangana has taken measures to arrest recession in granite sector. The government has also brought out a comprehensive and one of its kind ‘Sand Policy’ in the country that aims at curtailing the middlemen and avoid overexploitation of the reserves. This is also facilitating quick disposal of sand from the dedicated yards that had been created for this purpose. Innovative steps such as sand taxis had been introduced by the State where one can order for sand and it will be delivered at the doorsteps.

He said, “Telangana is making arrangements to procure iron ore from NMDC’s Bailadila deposit in Chhattisgarh to feed the Khammam Steel Plant. A Rs 2 crore rail line has been proposed through which the ore will be supplied to the plant.”