The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has rapped the Gujarat government for not revising its mineral policy in accordance with the directions of the Ministry of Mines, which it said resulted into "wrong" estimation of resources.
The CAG noted the illegal mining activity "could have been prevented had timely inspections been conducted".
The CAG report on mining leases was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on the last day of the Budget session today.
The report stated that there was no system in place to monitor the timely inspection of leases, which is necessary to prevent illegal mining.
As per the report, the Gujarat Mineral Policy, framed in 2003, "has not been revised despite the circulation of draft model State Mineral Policy by the Government of India in 2010".
The model mineral policy was prepared with a perspective that scientific mining has to go hand in hand with sustainable management practices for the long-term economic development of the state, the CAG noted.
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During its audit, the CAG observed a vast difference in the actual mineral resources and those mentioned in the tender notices for mining.
"This indicated that estimated reserves of the minerals were not worked out correctly. Had the state framed revised mineral policy in accordance with the direction of the Ministry of Mines, the estimation and exploration could have been done in a scientific manner," said the CAG.
The CAG also mentioned that though the Commissioner of Geology and Mining agreed for the need of such revised policy, "reasons for not framing the revised policy till date were not furnished as on September 2017".
Commenting on 'inadequate inspection of leases', the CAG noted that the current Mineral Policy mandates that every lease shall be inspected once in a year to ensure implementation of terms and conditions of the lease deeds.
However, the CAG observed that "there is no system for monitoring the timely inspection of leases and action taken reports on the inspections conducted at the apex level".
The report stated that the illegal mining activity "could have been prevented had timely inspections been conducted".