Monday, 01 July 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Working on the mantra of simplification and solution along with a transparent mining policy has brought a major improvement in the functioning of the Mining department. According to officials, the department which was struggling to achieve its revenue target for quite some time has earned a record Rs 270 crore revenue in the first quarter of this year. This has been possible due to an effective check on the transport and storage of illegally mined materials along with implementation of an online system for allocation of mining leases.
The State government under chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is working on various new decisions and policies to increase the State’s revenue generation. By implementing its rules on sub minerals, the government worked on simplification, solution, transparency and checking corruption for which the allocation of mining leases was made online. The authorities also worked on a policy of enforcement teams putting an effective check on illegal mining, transport and storage. Further, through the tender process, a company was allocated the responsibility of revenue collection in the four districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital. Officials said that these steps have improved the functioning of the department and revenue collection from mining. In the year 2022-23, the department earned a revenue of Rs 472.25 crore whereas the revenue in 2023-24 was Rs 645.42 crore. In these two financial years, the department earned Rs 173.17 crore more revenue in one year in 2023 which amounts to an increase of about 40 per cent. The officials further informed that the increase in revenue has continued with a record Rs 270 crore revenue being earned in the first quarter of this year. This marks an increase of about 53 per cent compared to the revenue during the corresponding periods in the past three years. Mining director Rajpal Legha informed that the revenue in the first quarter of 2022-23 was Rs 136.18 crore and Rs 177.27 crore in the first quarter of 2023-24. The past records have been broken by the Rs 270 crore revenue earned in the first quarter this year. He further said that in this financial year, the government will take more effective action against illegal mining and achieve its target while working in a transparent manner.
