Geology dept earns Rs56 crore royalty in Surat

Surat: Geology department of the state government earned a royalty of Rs56.64 crore from Surat district in 2018-19. It received Rs19.17 crore in royalty for lignite and limestone lease and Rs34.98 crore royalty for minor mineral lease. Geology department officials said they registered 177 cases against sand mafias and imposed penalty of Rs2.79 crore on them during the year. The geology department aims to earn Rs80 crore from royalty from the district in 2019-20 and also collect Rs50 crore in fine.
Surat district has four major leases of lignite and limestone and 259 minor leases of sand, gravel etc.

Tarun Patel, geologist, geology department, Surat, said, “We had registered 177 cases in 2018-19 for illegal mining, transporting and storing of minerals. We plan to catch more sand mafias this year.”

The department has staff of just five people in Surat. It is difficult for five people to stop illegal mining in the district, including sand mining in Tapi riverbed.