Mysuru: Keeping in mind the growing demand in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that licences for manufacturing M-sand will be issued liberally.

The estimated demand for M-sand was over 23 million tonnes (MT), against the production of 11 MT to 12 MT.

Inaugurating the party’s campaign for elections to the Legislative Council from the local bodies’ constituency here on Saturday, the CM said that the existing sand policy formulated by the BJP would be replaced by the new one soon.

The Chief Minister said that the government was aware of the sand mafia and the new policy would not only correct the lacunae in the present policy, but also effectively curb the mafia operating in the State. Using M-sand as an alternative to river sand was crucial in the present-day scenario, he said and added that use of M-sand had the benefit of taking on more load. Siddaramaiah was optimistic that the required quantity of M-sand would be manufactured in a year’s time and it would be made available to people on demand.

H.C. Mahadevappa, Minister for Public Works, H.S. Mahadeva Prasad, Minister for Cooperation, and Dhruvanarayan, Chamarajanagar MP, were present.