Chandigarh, September 2
Punjab Agriculture Minister Tota Singh (SAD) and Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal (BJP) were reportedly at daggers drawn while the new mining policy was being discussed during the Cabinet meeting today.

The verbal duel between the two ministers ended only after the intervention of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who urged them to exercise restraint.

Sources said the confrontation started after Madan Mohan Mittal addressed the Council of Ministers during the Cabinet meeting giving details of the new mining policy for Punjab aimed at bringing down the prices of sand and gravel.

Under the new policy, the state government proposes to bring the mining and retailing of sand and gravel under its control, rather than auctioning quarries.

Mittal proposed that Punjab State Industries and Export Corporation Limited (PSIEC) would excavate minor minerals from the quarries in riverbeds and said lifting and retailing would be done by the Punjab Mandi Board.

Sources said Agriculture Minister Tota Singh objected to the policy, saying that it would be difficult for the Punjab Mandi Board to handle the transportation and retailing of sand and gravel. He said Mandi Board officials were overworked and it would not be possible for them to lift and store minor minerals in market yards and then sell the same. He said the normal working of the mandis would be affected if they were to lift and sell sand and gravel. He asked the Industries Minister to reconsider the policy.

At this, Mittal reportedly said either the policy be implemented in its present form or "…phir bahut si baatein saamne aayengi".

The CM intervened and suggested that a coordination committee of the two ministries should be formed to work things out. The Cabinet later gave its approval to the policy under which the PSIEC would ensure the supply of sand and gravel at the pithead (Rs 1,150 per 100 cubic feet).

The Punjab Mandi Board would supply the minerals to the consumers by charging transport rates fixed by the Transport Department on per kilometre basis.

The consumer would have the option of booking sand and gravel at the market committee level also. As of now, the PSIEC will manage 37 sand and gravel quarries. The minerals extracted will be retailed by the Punjab Mandi Board.

The PSIEC is expected to earn around Rs 10.50 crore from the sale of the extracted minerals. It will take more than a month for the quarries to become operational as the PSIEC has to be anointed as a project proponent by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.