In yet another rude shock to senior Telugu Desam Party leader and former Anantapur MP J C Diwakar Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh mining department slapped a fine of a whopping Rs 100 crore on him for his alleged illegal mining of limestone.
According to reports, the mining department authorities served a notice on Diwakar Reddy’s company Trishul Cements at Konuppalapadu village in Yadiki mandal of Anantapur district, asking it to pay the fine of Rs 100 crore, failing which the department warned of attaching all the properties of the ex-MP.
The mining department authorities charged JC and his family members with resorting to large scale irregularities in mining of limestone in the name of Trishul Cement Company.
The authorities detected illegal mining of 14 lakh metric tonnes of limestone and sold it away without using for the cement factory.
In February this year, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government cancelled the limestone mining lease of Trishul Cement Company.
The lease for limestone mining given to Trishul Cement Company in an area of 649.684 hectares was terminated for contravention of sub-rule 10 of Rule 12 and Rule 24 of Minerals (other than atomic and hydrocarbon energy minerals) Concession Rules.
The government also revoked the order issued granting an extension of time for a further period of five years from August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2020 for the establishment of cement plant. It was observed that no work had commenced to set up the cement plant.
Mining lease for Trishul Cement Company was given in August 2007 for captive use for a period of 20 years subject to the condition that the company should establish the cement unit within three years.
When the factory was not set up even after the deadline, the government had extended the deadline by two more years. But the order was modified and instead of two years, the deadline was extended by five years. In 2015, the deadline was further extended by five more years.
In 2018, the lessee company requested for change in its name to Tadipatri Cements, but the Department of Mines and Geology recommended to the government to reject the request and revoke the order issued. It was also sought to terminate the mining lease.
