AP State to fight for its rights

Amaravati: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that justice was done only to his native State Gujarat but not to Andhra Pradesh.

When Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, he fought in Supreme Court against the Central government regarding the rights of states on the offshore natural gas and petroleum products exploration. After he became Prime Minister he released around Rs 8,000 crore to Gujarat and withdrew the case from Supreme Court, whereas he did not release the funds to AP government, Naidu explained.

The Chief Minister held a review on the performance of mineral sector in the State, on the concluding day of two-days Collectors Conference at his residence at Undavalli on Wednesday.

Officials told the Chief Minister that atomic minerals like garnet, ilmenite and zircon obtained from heavy mineral beach-sand were identified at more than 100 blocks along the coastal districts including Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam by the Geological Survey of India.

However, all the rights will be vested with the Government of India. The rights regarding either sanction, granting and monitoring will be done by the Central government.

The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) will conduct auction of blocks. The entire revenue earned will be taken by the Central government alone and there will be no share for the State government, the officials explained to Chandrababu Naidu.

The officials further explained that the rights on minerals on the onshore will be with the States and on the offshore, up to 12 nautical miles will go to the Central government.

Recently, the Union government introduced a new rule that, if the uranium content is higher then, that will be given to Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) only. And, if the uranium and thorium content is less, then it will be auctioned, explained the officials.

Meanwhile, the State government requested the Central government to reserve the onshore mines to AP Mineral Development Corporation (AP MDC).

As part of its ongoing struggle against the Central government, the state government has decided to take up the issue related to the rights of States on offshore minerals at national level politically.

Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu explained that the States argued with the Central government during the Goods and Services Tax Council (GST Council) meetings that States should have right to impose taxes on the offshore natural gas and petroleum products within the periphery of 12 nautical miles. This was accepted and the State governments were levying taxes under GST and also levied taxes before that also, he explained.

Ramakrishndudu said, “If we take it as political issue then we can get the rights on it. We have discussed on petroleum products. We have to take the mining also as political issue, then we will get the rights on offshore waters within 12 nautical miles.” Chandrababu Naidu pointed out that this was a controversial issue for a long time.

At the same time, he mentioned that after the States argued that the Central government was using land from the State governments while exploring the oils from offshore but not giving the revenue to the States. Then only, the Central government started giving share to the states on the off shore resources, he said.

At this juncture, Chandrababu Naidu dug at Narendra Modi by stating that when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, he fought on the central government in the Supreme Court. As he became Prime Minister, he released Rs. 8,000 crore to the Gujarat and withdrew the case from Supreme Court. Out of Rs 570 crores differential royalty on offshore natural gases and petroleum products, the AP got only Rs 280 crores.