(a) the details of the mining activities going on in Tamil Nadu;
(b) the total income generated by the State Government annually from different mining activities; and
(c) the steps being taken by the Government to improve the granite quarrying in the Tamil Nadu State?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINES (SHRI JAYSINGRAO GAIKWAD PATIL)
(a) & (b) : As per information maintained by Indian Bureau of Mines, a subordinate office of Ministry of Mines, the principal minerals produced in the State of Tamil Nadu are lignite, natural gas, petroleum (crude), bauxite, ballclay, dunite, felspar, fireclay, garnet (abrasive), graphite, gypsum, laterite, lime kankar, limestone, magnesite, mica, quartz, silica sand, steatite and vermiculite. The total value of mineral production in the State of Tamil Nadu excluding atomic minerals and minor minerals (as defined under Section 3(e) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957 ) in 1999-2000 was provisionally estimated at Rs.1,182 crores.
(c) : Granite is a minor mineral. The State Governments including Tamil Nadu have framed their own Minor Mineral Concession Rules (MMCR) for regulating the grant of mineral concessions for minor minerals including granite under Section 15 of the MMDR Act, 1957. The Central Government has also framed the Granite Conservation & Development Rules, 1999 in exercise of powers conferred by Section 18 of the MMDR Act for conservation and systematic development and scientific mining to conserve the granite resources and to prescribe an uniform frame-work with regard to systematic and scientific exploitation of granite throughout the country.