Quarry owners request govt to resolve retrospective payment issue

THE Stone Crusher and Quarry Owners Association, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, have urged the government to resolve the issue of retrospective payment as per the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act by charging Rs five lakh per hectare.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mangaluru

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, association president Manoj Shetty said that various reports and decisions taken by the government indicate that the main objective is to increase the revenue to the state's exchequer and proposed ways to increase the revenue by enabling the collection of royalty at the endpoint.

"According to the CAG report, 75%-78% of the total royalty is collected at the endpoint. The royalty amount is deducted from contractors by various government agencies at the time of payment of the bill amount for various works done. Whereas the remaining 22%-25% of the royalty is collected from other sources," he said.