CHENNAI: The State government on Wednesday announced plans to establish an end-to-end mineral management system to monitor mineral production and transportation in real time.Presenting the budget, finance minister N Marie Wilson said the government would take steps to curb illegal mining and quarrying and plug revenue leakages. “This technology-driven, transparent and integrated framework will ensure sustainable extraction of the state’s mineral wealth and optimisation of revenue while preventing illegal mining,” Wilson said, detailing the new system. The natural resources department will also establish district-level vigilance and enforcement wings to strengthen surveillance and curb illegal mining.Over the past three months, authorities have seized 1,307 vehicles allegedly involved in the illegal transport of minerals and registered 1,161 FIRs. As part of a special drive, officials inspected 431 quarries and detected violations in 155 cases. Action is being taken against the erring quarries. A special task force has also been constituted to inspect crushing units and stockyards across the state, while check posts have been set up along the state’s borders.
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Wilson said granite polishing and design centres would be established in Pudukkottai and Perambalur districts to support the region’s granite industry. A detailed project report will be prepared during the current financial year. The government has allocated Rs 438 crore for the sector in its revised budget estimates.State government hopes to generate an additional Rs 15,000 crore in revenue by leveraging information technology through initiatives such as faceless GST assessments, faceless property registration, and end-to-end computerisation of mining activity monitoring.
