Lok Sabha Question No. 5545 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Illegal Mining
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Ranjeeta Koli, Sumedhanand Saraswati

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5545

ANSWERED ON 06.04.2022

## ILLEGAL MINING

†5545. SHRIMATI RANJEETA KOLI: SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to change the definition of illegal mining and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  complaints  received  regarding  illegal  mining  during  the  last  three years, State-wise; and
- (c) the details of the amount of fines recovered by the State Government of Rajasthan in respect of illegal mining?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINES, COAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) to (c):  No, Sir. There is no proposal to change the definition of illegal mining. Section 23C  of  Mines  and  Minerals  (Development  and  Regulation)  Act  (MMDR  Act)  1957, empowers the State Governments to frame rules to prevent illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals and for the purposes connected therewith. Hence, control of illegal mining comes under the legislative and administrative purview of the State Governments.

However, as per quarterly returns on illegal mining (both for major and minor minerals) furnished by various State Governments to the Indian Bureau of Mines, a Sub-ordinate Office of Ministry of Mines, the State-wise details of cases of illegal mining reported during the last three years (upto Quarter ending September 2021) is given at Annexure-I. Further, as per the information provided by the State Government, the amount of fine recovered by the State Government of Rajasthan in respect of illegal mining during the period 2019-20 to 2021-22 (upto September, 2021) is as under:

| Year                          |   Amount of Fine Recovered by Rajasthan State Government(In Lakh Rs) |
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2019-2020                     |                                                              6889.22 |
| 2020-2021                     |                                                              5565.41 |
| 2021-22 (upto September,2021) |                                                              4314.46 |

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ANNEXURE-I (PQ 5545)

| Sr. No.   |                  | No of cases                       | No of cases reported during the year 2020- 21   | No of cases the year 2021- 22 (Up to Quarter ending Sept.   | Action taken      | Action taken             | Action taken         | Action taken                            |
|-----------|------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.   | State            | reported during the year 2019- 20 |                                                 | reported during - 2021)                                     | FIR Lodged (Nos.) | Court Cases Filed (Nos.) | Vehicle Seized (No.) | Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs. Lakh) |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh   | 8354                              | 10736                                           | 5457                                                        | 37                | 24                       | 2922                 | 40570.126                               |
| 2         | Chhattisgarh     | 6449                              | 5376                                            | 2263                                                        | 0                 | 6449                     | 0                    | 2723.495                                |
| 3         | Goa              | 0                                 | 0                                               | 01                                                          | 1                 | 0                        | 0                    | 6.952                                   |
| 4         | Gujarat          | 7476                              | 7164                                            | 4101                                                        | 298               | 36                       | 13,358               | 27483.78                                |
| 5         | Haryana          | 1251                              | 1384                                            | 324                                                         | 509               | 0                        | 0                    | 2051.077                                |
| 6         | Himachal Pradesh | 2424                              | 4339                                            | 2214                                                        | 84                | 1028                     | 13                   | 268.382                                 |
| 7         | Jharkhand        | 3269                              | n.r.                                            | 613                                                         | 880               | 568                      | 3714                 | 715.9                                   |
| 8         | Karnataka        | 4935                              | 5584                                            | 2996                                                        | 2281              | 1198                     | 658                  | 7015.009                                |
| 9         | Kerala           | 8575                              | 7400                                            | 3012                                                        | 0                 | 0                        | 0                    | 14288.96                                |
| 10        | Madhya Pradesh   | 8223                              | 11157                                           | 1464                                                        | 1                 | 8290                     | 11                   | 110622.42                               |
| 11        | Maharashtra      | 10456                             | 11002                                           | 3605                                                        | 5511              | 0                        | 25063                | 27479.51                                |
| 12        | Odisha           | 16                                | 18                                              | 99                                                          | 0                 | 0                        | 23                   | 119.693                                 |
| 13        | Rajasthan        | 4027                              | 5815                                            | 4787                                                        | 1163              | 164                      | 8822                 | 16769.086                               |
| 14        | Tamilnadu        | 66                                | 70                                              | n.r.                                                        | 17175             | 1589                     | 12531                | 982.082                                 |
| 15        | Telangana        | 7039                              | 5620                                            | 2520                                                        | 0                 | 0                        | 0                    | 2441.6                                  |
| 16        | Uttar Pradesh    | n.r.                              | n.r.                                            | 5330                                                        | 82                | 533                      | 0                    | 2619.710                                |

n.r. - Quarterly return not received.