State invites cement players for new mining lease

The state government has invited large and mini cement players in Gujarat for obtaining new mining lease of limestone blocks.

As part of CSR activity, all such players who will get such blocks, the government has made a provision to give three percent of the total annual production for public purpose projects, free of cost. The players will have to give away this share after a period of three years of commercial production.

"The cement produced in the previous fiscal will be taken as total production of the company of which three percent will be used for public projects. For the first time guidelines have also been laid to accomodate mini cement players. All interested players will have to submit their proposal within thirty days," government sources said.

Cement players applying for mining lease will have to give a bank guarantee of Rs 40 lakh per million tonne of production, according to Gujarat State Limestone Mining Lease Block Allocation to Cement Manucturers Guidelines-2009.

The state government will also introduce third party monitoring to curb illegal mining activities in the state.

A large number of players including Adani Group, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Jaypee Cement, Binani Cement, Deepak Cement, Ultratech Cement and ABG group have signed MoUs in last two Vibrant Gujarat summits for setting up greenfield cement projects.

Even players who have commissioned their units in the last two years but are yet to obtain mining lease can apply for the same.

Irrespective of whether the commercial production has begun or not, players who have recieved letter of intent can apply for the lease.

Players who are undergoing capacity expansion of their existing facilities are also eligible, sources said.

Gujarat produces about 20 per cent of country’s total cement.