Naidu pushes for mining of bauxite

VIJAYAWADA: In what appears to be a renewed attempt to revive the controversial bauxite-mining in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam district, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said the mineral should be utilised to better the lives of lakhs of underprivileged people and propel growth of the residuary state. Naidu said the state government will hold a public debate on bauxite-mining, and till then the mining proposal will be put on hold.
Interestingly, Naidu also said the Centre is keen on clearing hurdles for the bauxite-mining project as it has investment over Rs 1,000 crore from UAE. He said the Centre is constantly reviewing the progress of the project and it had asked the state government to expedite the pending clearances. He said the final forest clearance was issued to Anrak Aluminium (joint venture of Penna group and Ras-Al-Khaimah country) on November 5 only due to the close monitoring by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Releasing a white paper on bauxite-mining, Naidu trained guns at the previous Congress regime, holding former chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy responsible for turning the mining issue into a major controversy. "YSR's selfish decisions had turned bauxite-mining into a major controversy," he alleged.
Days after suspending the GO on bauxitemining apparently under pressure from tribals of Visakhapatnam Agency and threats from Maoists the chief minister strongly advocated that utilisation of mineral reserves had changed the fortunes of several states, including neighbouring Orissa.
"We will take a final call on the issue after allowing people to debate over the issue. This is the reason why we are releasing the white pa per (fact sheet)," said Naidu.. He said the welfare of people will be kept in mind before taking any decision. "Children from Araku and Paderu area are unable to go even to Visakhapatnam city for studies, due to poverty. We want to transform their lives by investing large sums in the area," he said.
AP has vast reserves of bauxite in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam. Bauxite reserves available in the state are considered as A-grade' in the world market. Of the total 2,983 ` million tonnes of anticipated reserves of bauxite across the country, AP's mining blocks have about 600 million tonnes (21 per cent of the total national reserves), the white paper revealed.