The Bihar government has earned an all-time high revenue of Rs 1384.46 crore from sand mining during 2022-23, an increase of nearly 54 per cent compared to the previous fiscal, a top official said on Thursday. The revenue collection from sand mining in 2021-22 was Rs. 745.44 crore, Harjot Kaur Bamhrah, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Mines Commissioner (Bihar), said.
“There is an increase of 53.84 per cent in revenue collection from sand mining in the just concluded fiscal year compared to 2021-22,” the official said. Noting that the revenue collection from mines and minerals has increased substantially over the years, Bamrah said, “The overall revenue collection from mines and minerals has increased from Rs 1082.72 crore in 2017-18 to around Rs 3000 crore in 2022-23. “The revenue collection from sand mining has increased from Rs 836.57 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1384.46 crore in the last fiscal”.
The official noted that improved revenue collection from sand mining has spurred overall revenue from mines and minerals of the state. The revenue collected from brick-kiln owners was Rs 77.93 crore in 2022-23 whereas the collection was Rs 71 crore in 2021-22 , she said. The Mines and Geology department of the state government also imposed hefty fines for illegal mining and collected Rs 299 crore in 2022-23 on that account, whereas the total revenue collected from fines was Rs 165 crore in 2021-22.
The official said the department has decided to create its own “dedicated police force” to curb illegal sand mining, exploitation and transportation of minerals in the state. The dedicated force will be called “mining police”, she said. “We need to have our own assistant sub-inspectors (25) and constables (250), who will be part of the ‘mining police’, besides other senior officials to lead them. This force will be fully armed”, she said. A proposal in this regard has already been sent to the competent authority for approval, the official said.
