Illegal Mining In Maharashtra: End Users To Be Made Accountable For Minor Mineral Royalty, Says Chandrashekhar Bawankule

Maharashtra's Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced plans to make end users responsible for minor mineral royalty payments as part of efforts to curb illegal mining and transportation. Under the proposed system, individuals constructing homes, for instance, would declare the quantity of sand, murum and aggregate needed, pay the applicable royalty and assume responsibility for the material.

This shift aims to reduce the need for revenue officials to track and detain vehicles during transportation. Farmers' tractors used for transporting soil, murum and other minor minerals for agricultural purposes would be exempt from seizure, but the exemption would not extend to other illegal activities involving minor minerals.

Bawankule emphasized that the state's new monitoring system would provide end-to-end control over the movement of minor minerals, even targeting vehicles engaged in illegal transportation. The government, following the launch of MahaKhanij 2.0 on September 15, plans to further strengthen digital monitoring of minor minerals to check illegal extraction, transportation and royalty evasion.