Construction firm bids Rs 25 crore for Rs 2 crore mine in MP's Sehore dist

One sand mine in the chief minister’s home district Sehore, which had a base price of over Rs 2 crore, finally fetched over Rs 25 crore in Madhya Pradesh’s first ever sand mining e-auction on Friday.

Updated on: May 9, 2015, 18:28:37 IST

Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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One sand mine in the chief minister’s home district Sehore, which had a base price of over Rs 2 crore, finally fetched over Rs 25 crore in Madhya Pradesh’s first ever sand mining e-auction on Friday.

During the e-auction, the sand mine spread over 16 acres in Sehore’s Budhni opened with a base price of Rs 2.06 crore and had three bidders.

Kartikey Constructions later won the bid with a whopping Rs 25.87 crore.

When questioned about such a unprecedented trend and whether some mines in the state were undervalued in the past, secretary of state mining department Sheo Shekhar Shukla said, “We will have to go into the each case individually to see why some sand mines have fetched such a whopping price. May be it is because of the quantum of sand generated in that particular stretch is regularly replenished and is easily transportable.”

He said that most sand mines e-auctioned on Friday were between 5 to 25 acres because of which many bidders could apply and monopoly was lessened.

HT had earlier reported about illegal sand mining in Sehore district.

HT had earlier reported about illegal sand mining from areas such as Shahganj, Joshipur, Mahukula, Baneta Plot, Sardar Nagar, Narayanpur and Nandner among others.

Collector of Sehore district, Sudam Khade said that implementation of the new sand mining policy will curb illegal sand mining.

He added that in the last seven to eight months, they had taken action in 280 cases of illegal sand mining and have realized a penalty amounting to Rs 78 lakh.

Submit report on illegal sand mining on Ken River: NGT tells collector

The National Green Tribunal has directed the collector of Panna district to submit a detailed report on illegal sand mining on the Ken River within a week.

Taking a suo moto cognizance of the reports about illegal sand mining in Ken River area, the NGT gave the directions during a hearing on Friday.

The next hearing in the case will be on May 19.

The tribunal did so after the state pollution board informed the NGT that currently no one is permitted to do sand mining in the area.

In its order the NGT stated that the state pollution control board had informed it that only one valid mining lease had been granted in the area.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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