Identify illegal mines, plug revenue loss

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Karnataka legislature has found that the state is losing Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in revenue due to illegal extraction of minor minerals. In its report tabled in the Assembly, the PAC, headed by Congress’ Krishna Byre Gowda, pointed out that the state government did not have an inventory of mining areas identifying minor minerals like granite, gypsum, silica sand and jasper, among others. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which had earlier conducted a pilot study in Chikkaballapura taluk, had stated that the government had lost potential revenue to the tune of Rs 2,324 crore due to illegal mining there. The PAC expanded this audit to the entire state, arriving at the figure of Rs 18,000-20,000 crore. At present, the state government is generating a non-tax revenue of Rs 6,300 crore from the extraction of minor minerals and there is a potential to triple this amount, the report says. The committee also expressed disappointment that though Karnataka leads the country in the technology sector, when it comes to identifying mining areas, it still relies on outdated methods.

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Mining scams are nothing new in Karnataka, but the BJP-led government does not seem to have learnt any lessons from the past. An explosive report by former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde in 2011 had led to the jailing of then minister Janardhan Reddy and some other Ballari mining lords, while the then Chief Minister, B S Yediyurappa, too lost his job subsequently. In its 25,000-page report, the Lokayukta had also named former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), and the family of Congress MP Anil Lad, and about 600 officers for causing a loss of over Rs 16,000 crore between 2006 and 2010. While making out a case for action under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the report had stated that the government had deliberately failed to check irregularities and illegalities. The same seems to be the case with minor minerals, too, with the government looking the other way, since a majority of those involved in illegal mining are politicians belonging to various political parties or their henchmen.

The illegal extraction of minor minerals often does not attract much attention because they are confined to small areas, unlike iron ore mining. Unless the government uses modern technology to identify and notify all potential mining areas, illegal mining will continue and so will revenue loss to the state. The government should conduct a district-level audit to identify illegal mines and those exceeding permitted boundaries. Unfortunately, the political will to do so is lacking because illegal mining is a cash cow that funds all parties.