The AP government is said to be preparing to cancel the limestone leases allocated to Bharathi Cement against the rules. While the leases were to be obtained through the auction process, the Jaganmohan Reddy government allocated two limestone mines totaling 744 acres to Bharathi Cement a few days before the election notification last year with old applications.
The Union Mines Department has sought an explanation on these, and now the coalition government is ready to take action. As the legal department has also given the green signal for the cancellation of the leases, it seems that a decision is likely to be taken in the review meeting to be held by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in the Mines Department on Wednesday.
Raghuram Cements acquired limestone mines in Kamalapuram and Erraguntla mandals of YSR Kadapa district. Later, during the YS regime, Raghuram Cement was purchased by Bharathi Cement Corporation in 2009. It applied to be allocated two limestone leases in the name of Raghuram, totaling 744 acres.
The government had granted a letter of intent (LOI) to the company at that time. The lease would be granted only if all the permissions were obtained after the LOI was granted. However, the company was unable to obtain the permissions. Then in 2015, the Center made key amendments in the matter of major minerals.
It made it clear that all the permissions should be obtained within two years for the leases obtained by LOIs by January 2015, otherwise they would be cancelled. However, Bharathi Cement did not obtain the permissions. The state government gave a notice in 2016 that it was withdrawing the LOI as it did not inform about the transformation of Raghuram Cements into Bharathi Cement Corporation.
Bharathi Cement approached the High Court on this issue, which resulted in status quo. Later, in 2021, the Center brought another amendment. It said that those who have obtained a mineral exploration lease and later apply for a mining lease should obtain all the permissions, otherwise the lease would be cancelled.
It is learned that the Law Department recently expressed its opinion that Bharathi Cement leases can be cancelled. It seems that Bharathi Cement leases will be cancelled first in this order.