Shimla, March 28 — Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday that the state’s mining policy would be amended to close loopholes causing revenue loss. He said the government aimed to increase mining income from the current Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
“We will not allow anyone to plunder the state’s resources, and if any mistake has been made, it will be corrected,” Sukhu said while responding to a question by Bharmour MLA Janak Raj during the Question Hour.
Raj had asked whether the government planned to lease 165 bighas of land in Chamba district to an individual, despite the rule that more than five bighas of government land could only be leased through auction.
Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, addressing the query, clarified that the case in question dated back to 2015, before the current regulations were introduced. “The lease was renewed as the individual had completed all formalities and obtained the required clearances and no-objection certificates. Since 2018, government land for mining has only been allotted through auctions,” Chauhan explained.
Meanwhile, responding to Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma’s question, Sukhu announced that the government would build an international convention centre at Tapovan in Dharamsala. “It will be constructed on 4.5 hectares and will be the largest convention centre in the country,” he claimed.
Sukhu added that the initial plan to build the centre at Dari Maidan was scrapped to preserve a children’s playground.
