The Karnataka government on Thursday called for formulation of a uniform policy for granite mining across southern states in order to ensure the all round development of the industry and promotion of investments in the sector.
“We have decided to convene a meeting of ministers of mines and geology of all the southern states during April in Bangalore to discuss various issues and work out a common policy framework. This will put an end to migration of the industry from one state to the other and help promote the granite industry and increase exports from the country,” V S Acharya, minister of home, government of Karnataka said.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of Stona 2010, the ninth edition of the four-day exhibition and international conference on granites and stones, organised by the All Indian Granites and Stone Association (AIGSA), here, Acharya said Karnataka government has taken the initiative to formulate a uniform granite mining policy to help both the industry and governments to promote the industry.
Presently, he said, each state government has a different royalty structure and pursues different quarry leasing policy and it was necessary to have a common policy to curb the migration of investment from one state to the other.
B Srinivas Reddy, Karnataka minister for mines and geology, government of Andhra Pradesh said their government would extend a 20 per cent discount on royalty from granite mining to the industry for one more year to help exporters.
Last year, the Andhra Pradesh government had announced a 40 per cent discount on royalty during the first year and 20 per cent during the second year to granite exporters in view of the global economic recession. During the present year, the state has given a concession of about Rs 35 crore to the industry and next year another Rs 20 crore will be given, Reddy said.
About 400 exhibitors from India, Italy, China, Egypt, Japan, Korea, Turkey and other European countries are participating in the exhibition.