BHOPAL: The last day of auction for allotment of sand mines to contractors will be Saturday.
Total 228 contractors from 42 districts across the states are taking part in the auction.
Nearly 247 contractors applied for auction, but the applications of 19 were cancelled on technical grounds.
The department of mines expects that the government will earn Rs 1,000 crore from the sand mines.
The revenue collection target from sand mines was Rs 500 crore, but after the process for auction ended, the expectations for more revenue have increased.
Nevertheless, fears among people about the rise in prices of sand are heightening.
Principal secretary of the department of mines Neeraj Mandloi said the allotment of sand mines would generate more revenues than was expected.
According to Mandloi, as the aim of the government is to stop illegal mining, sand prices will not increase. Besides, ways to stop overloading will also be found out, he said.
During the BJP rule, the sand-mining work was given to the Panchayats after complaints about illegal mining.
In its Vachan Patra, the Congress said it would hand over sand-mining work to Panchayats, but the government is getting the work done through auction to generate revenue.
The government earned Rs 69 crore last year. Earlier, when the sand mines were with the Mining Corporation, the government could not earn more than Rs 250 crore, but this year, it may generate the highest revenue.
