Chandigarh, January 15: Punjab Mining and Geology Minister S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra, on Monday, said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Government has collected a total revenue of Rs.472.50 crore over the past two financial years, despite offering sand and gravel at historically affordable rates.
Giving further details, the Cabinet Minister highlighted that the department achieved revenues of Rs.247 crore in the financial year 2022-23 and Rs.225.50 crore in the ongoing financial year 2023-24 up to January 2, 2024, from various major heads.
He elaborated on the revenue collection, mentioning that revenue receipt from Public Mines Sites (PMS) stands at Rs.13.5 crore, Commercial Mining Sites (CMS) at Rs.8.8 crore, interstate activities Rs.146.1 crore, Brick Kiln owners license at Rs.22.5 crores, revenue from short term permits Rs.96.03 crores, from penalty imposed under Rule 75 at Rs.7.92 crores, from other sources like crusher, registrations, crusher EMF, demand notices, vehicle permits etc. at Rs.94.21 crore, revenue from de-silting sites Rs. 30.86 crore and revenue receipt from blocks remained at Rs. 60 crores.
He said that the revenue from de-silting sites is excluded in the current financial year due to the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High court order, resulting in an approximate loss of Rs. 450 crores due to surrendering of de-silting sites from Mining Department.
S. Jauramajra projected revenues of Rs.307 crore for the financial year 2023-24 and Rs.300 crore for the subsequent financial year 2024-25.
Rubbishing a report published in a section of the media is baseless, misleading and mendacious, S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra clarified that the figures of revenue shown in the news report only represents CMS and PMS revenues, excluding significant contributions from other major heads.
S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra said that apart from this, Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has cracked down healivy on the sand mafia with registering record FIRs and arresting people involved in illegal mining compared to previous dispensations.
He said that the Punjab government has been providing sand and gravel to the people at affordable rates and despite this, the government has witnessed an increase in revenue.