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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2025

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – The Centre will stick to the proposed offshore mining off the coast of Kerala, a top government official told Informist on Wednesday. The statement comes even as opposition lawmakers and legislators have continued their protest against the move citing enviornmental concerns. 

 

The Centre launched the country's first tranche of e-auction of 13 offshore blocks in November last year. Of the 13 blocks, three are off the Kerala coast, three off Gujarat, and seven in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a proposed lease of 50 years.

 

Kerala has been witnessing protests over the proposed mining, with members of Parliament and legislators from the state even staging a protest in the national Capital against the move. Earlier this month, the state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to drop the offshore mining plan.

 

However, according to the official, the central government remains resolute and is unlikely to reconsider its stance on the issue. "The government has made their action plan on the matter clear. We will conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment," he said. 

 

The opposition's issue has been the government's explanation that the assessment would be conducted by the company that gets the tender. The opposition has also been citing studies such as that of the Cochin Fisheries University along with the Aquatic Department which found that the mining would affect fish breeding very severely in the area. 

 

The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, which deals with the development of mineral resources in the country's maritime zones, was amended in 2023. Earlier, offshore excavation was under the aegis of central government bodies such as Geological Survey of India, Indian Bureau of Mining, and Atomic Minerals Directorate. But this amendment opened up offshore mining to the private sector. 

 

A study conducted by the Geological Survey of India along the Kerala coast has found that the state's offshore has a huge deposit of construction-grade sand, around 745 million tonnes. At present, mining is under consideration at three blocks off the Kollam coast in southern Kerala. The study has found that these blocks have a deposit of 300 million tonnes of sand.  End

 

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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