Image used for representational purposes only. Credit: Sumaira Abdulali
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Thursday (March 12, 2026) categorically stated that the companies which have given up sand mining lease will not be allowed to participate in the fresh tender for allotment of sand mining lease in the state.
The companies surrendered their sand mining leases for 78 ghats of sand to the ministry citing massive losses in the financial year 2025-26, said Mr. Sinha, who is also the holder of the mines and geology department in the state.
“The surrender of leases has caused a revenue loss of around ₹700 crore to the department,” Mr. Sinha said during a press conference in Patna.
He further said, “We will not allow them to participate in the new tender that will be floated for the lease allocation of these (78) ghats. They will not be able to participate in the tender even if they change their names or the names of their companies. We will change our policy to blacklist these companies.”
Accompanied by Ministry Secretary Divesh Sehara, Mines Director Manesh Kumar Meena, Mr. Sinha said these companies got the sand lease after bidding at a price that was exorbitantly higher.
“They did it to make quick money through illegal mining, but could not do it because of the department’s strictness to check illegal mining and encroachment, which led them to give up the lease of the ghats,” claimed Mr. Sinha.
These companies and persons will also be identified to take other necessary action against them besides securing their bails, the minister added.
During an interaction with the media, Mr. Sinha transferred a total of ₹37 crore to the bank accounts of 71 whistleblowers as part of the ministry’s ‘Bihari Yoddha Purashkar’ initiative, launched to check illegal mining and mining, at the click of a button.
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Those who provide information on illegal mining, transportation and trucking will be given ₹5,000, while those who provide information on illegal truck movement will be rewarded with ₹10,000.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has launched an initiative to encourage public participation to check illegal mining, transportation and harassment and catch erring persons.
Mr Sinha said these ‘Joddhas’ – whose details are not being shared for security reasons – played an important role in checking illegal mining and vehicle overloading, making Bihar the first state in the country to take such an initiative.
Stating that it had collected a revenue of ₹1,600 crore in 2021-22, which would more than double to ₹3,536 crore in 2024-25, Mr Sinha exuded confidence that the department would easily meet its revenue target of ₹3,800 crore, before reaching over ₹0,000 crore so far.
The department expects to collect ₹200-300 crore in March, besides the department expects to get ₹500-600 crore from other labor departments, he said.
Published – 13 March 2026 05:38 IST
