Mines and Geology Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy said on Wednesday that restoration of lease to Saraswati Power Industries Limited was done as per the established norms.
“The Opposition is unnecessarily making an issue out of nothing,” he told the media here.
Criticising the Opposition leaders for attributing motives to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Minister said that the government had acted as per the guidelines of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act under Section 8A (3), and as per the orders of the High Court.
In the combined State, the government had given 613 hectares to the company for limestone mining. During the TDP rule in 2014, N. Chandrababu Naidu had cancelled the lease,” the Minister said.
‘HC directive’
The company had approached the court, which ordered the State government on December 12, 2019, to restore the lease.
Following the court orders, the government restored the lease, and extended it to 50 years as per the MMDR Act.
Mr. Naidu was levelling baseless allegations. “It is a fact that Mr. Naidu had extended the lease period of 30 industries for over 50 years during the TDP rule. Now, Mr. Naidu is accusing the government of restoring lease of a single industry, though due procedures have been followed,” he said.
“All mining activities in the State are being done with the permits given during the previous government and no new licenses have been given. The Opposition leader is giving a political colour to every issue, to tarnish the image of the government,” the Minister said.
