Babu’s Free Sand Policy: All You Need To Know

The YSR Congress government came under the pump ever so often over the last five years for the controversial sand policy where the public had to pay hefty amounts on per/tonne basis to procure sand. This policy is being completely scrapped by the new Chandrababu government and there is substantial action on this front now.

The free sand policy file is to be signed by the chief minister shortly and it will be coming to effect tomorrow. Here’s a look at some of the logistically and fiscal changes that are being brought by the new government.

Unlike the last five years, there is no need to pay any money for sand(YCP government charged per tonne basis). The buyer will only have to pay the transportation charges.

There are 83 B-1 category sand reaches in Andhra Pradesh and none of them have machinery to load up sand. All the work is done by manual labor. This labour cost and the transportation charge to carry the sand from the reach to the depot must be borne by the buyer.

A person can get a maximum of 20 tonnes of sand per day. Earlier in the YCP tenure, the sand depots were under the control of private companies Pratima Infra and BKC. But the new government has asked the AP Mining Ministry to take control of all the sand. Consequently, 43 lakh tonnes of sand that was held at private depots now belongs to the AP Mines department and this will be distributed free of cost.

The buyer can easily book his slot by providing the Aadhar card number and phone number. There is an easy-to-use online system to make the process simple.

Stern measures are in place to make sure that those who get free sand don’t resale it later and form a syndicate. Every mistake made by YCP regarding the sand policy is being rectified now.