Yogi govt to introduce policy to promote M-Sand in Uttar Pradesh

The government also proposes to give the benefit of MSME to these units. Additionally, fixed power costs and mineral royalties are also being considered for M-Sand units.

The Yogi Adityanath government is coming up with a new policy to promote alternatives to river sand used in construction work and curb illegal sand mining. The policy will focus on the promotion of manufactured sand (M-Sand), which is produced by crushing stones.

The final draft of the M-Sand Policy will be prepared after considering the suggestions received from the stakeholders and will be implemented in the state after getting approval from the cabinet.The Directorate of Geology and Mining, Uttar Pradesh, has recently discussed a draft of the M-Sand policy with various stakeholders of the state and the country. According to the Additional Director, Directorate of Geology and Mining, Vipin Kumar Jain, "There is a provision in the policy to give industry status to M-Sand units. Under this, all M-Sand units will be given the benefits of industry status by the Directorate of Industry and Enterprise Promotion, Uttar Pradesh. Along with this, a provision is proposed to provide benefits of the MSME Promotion Policy 2022 as well."

He further informed that there is a provision for capital subsidy, stamp duty exemption, and interest exemption. Under capital subsidy, 25 per cent capital subsidy will be given to micro units of Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, 20 per cent to small units and 15 per cent to medium enterprises, whereas, in Madhyanchal and Paschimanchal it will be 20 per cent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

As for stamp duty exemption, a 100 per cent exemption will be given for Bundelkhand and Purvanchal and 75 per cent for Madhyanchal and Paschimanchal. Along with this, there is also a plan to provide interest subsidies of up to 50 per cent to micro-enterprises with a capping of 25 lakhs for 5 years.

In addition to all this, there is also a plan to give many more benefits to M-Sand units. As per the policy draft discussed with the stakeholders, the M-Sand manufacturing units will get benefit of fixed power costs. Under this, reimbursement will be given at the rate of one rupee per unit for 5 years from the date of commercial production.

There is also a provision for mineral royalty, under which royalty exemption will be provided on source rock. Not only this, the government has said that 25 per cent of the total sand used in all government engineering departments, including PWD, will be M sand. Gradually, this percentage will be increased from 25 to 50, so that the consumption of sand units can increase.

M-sand is made by crushing large stones into fine particles, which are then cleaned and finely graded. It is widely used as a substitute for river sand in construction. Apart from this, M sand can be made in many ways. (ANI)