The Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday gave in-principle approval to continue with progressive bidding for grant of mining contracts.
The CM also directed the Mining department to explore the possibility of setting up a Mining Corporation, as suggested by Local Government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The CM took these decisions while chairing a high-level meeting to discuss various issues relating to mining in the state.
Since the establishment of a Mining Corporation, on the lines of Telangana as suggested by Sidhu, may take time, the CM said the state government would continue to follow the Progressive Bidding policy, which it had adopted and which had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
This would help ensure that the mining process is carried out with transparency and illegal mining is curbed, he added.
Giving details of the meeting, an official spokesperson said Sidhu’s suggestion was discussed threadbare and it was decided to follow up the discussions with a detailed examination of the proposal to see how best it could be taken forward.
The CM, while batting for progressive bidding as the best methodology in the present circumstances to tackle the menace of illegal mining, asked the Department to work out the modalities for the conduct of auctions in strategically established clusters.
The CM directed Revenue and Irrigation minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria to initiate immediate steps for desilting of rivers for flood protection and start the process immediately after the monsoons. The de-silted sand could be pumped into the market to ease the pricing pressure, added the spokesperson.
It was also added that the CM asked the Mining Department to deploy high-end monitoring equipment, including geo-tagging of sites and installation of Global Positionoing System tracking of trucks, to improve enforcement check unlawful mining.
The CM also directed Sarkaria to explore the possibility of scientific mining in order to bring greater transparency and accountability in the bidding process, added the spokesperson.