FEDERATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY

Issue: FAPGI 001/2016

FEDERATION OF
ANDHRA
PRADESH
GRANITE
INDUSTRY
FAPGI NEWS
LETTER
MEETING WITH HONBLE CHIEF MINISTER SRI NARA CHANDRABABU ON 12-4-2016

After

Meeting at Hyderabad date 19-5-2016

the separation of Telugu

States, the new Andhra Pradesh has no

credible state level trade body for the granite
stone mining industry. The granite fraternity
felt the need for such a body to tackle various
common issues that were bogging the
industry. The members of the granite mining
industry have frequently met since March
2016 and have decided to come together and
to form such a representative body.

Vijayawada meeting at 22 -5-2016:

Many quarry owners have met at Hotel
Minerva in Vijayawada to give representation
to Honble Minister of Mines and Honble
Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. The
representation met the Honble Chief
minister along with the Minister of Transport
Sri S. Raghava Rao garu and the Minister of
Mines
Smt. P.
Sujata
garu in the
presence
of Mines
Secretary
Sri Girija Shankar garu. In the thirty-five
meeting with the CM, all the issues were
discussed and got an assurance from the
Chief Minister that issues represented will be
looked into.

Later, we all
met at
Hyderabad to
chalk out the
shape and
structure of the

ISSUE: APRIL TO JUNE 2016

an Executive council and an Advisory Council

drawn from various District bodies.

THE FEDERATION OF ANDHRA

PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY HAS
COME IN TO EXISTENCE ON 19-62016.

association and decided

to have a structure like a
state wide Federation
representing all the
district wise bodies. Primarily Federation is
an Association of Associations.

Meeting at Vijayawada Date: 19-62016 at Hotel Gateway;

The meeting was held to form a State wide
representative body. Members primarily

September 20
from granite mining have assembled at
Vijayawada and elected a Governing Council,

FEDERATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY

Sri. Veeramani, Chairman Gem Granites Ltd,
Chennai has been Elected as the Chief Patron
of the Association in absentia.
Sri. Pallava Subba Reddy has been elected as
the Honble Chairman to the federation in
absentia

| Issue 001/2016

Sudhir, Mr. V, Sudharshan Rao, Mr. Gowtham

Jain of Pokarna Granites ltd, Mr. KMB Ravi,
Mr. Krihsnaiah of Madhcon Granites, Mr.
Gottipati Babi, Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. Palani,
Mr. Ramana Murthy, Mr. Rajashekar Reddy
and Sri.Sidda Suryaprakash Rao;

The Meeting at Vijayawada on 10-4-2016 has

culminated with a fruitful meeting with the
Honble Chief minister and also resulted in
eventual formation of Federation of A.P
Granite Industry.

Later, Enterprising Enterprises, Chennai has

also joined as Chief Patron of the Federation.
The Federation is a registered body with an
office at Vijayawada and would serve the
granite and stone industry of Andhra Pradesh
State.
Sri. Sidda Venkateswara Rao has been
elected as the Chairman of the Federation.
Dr.C.H.RAO has been elected as the General
Secretary of the Federation.
Sri. Y.V.Prasad has been elected as the
Treasurer.
All the current presidents of the District
granite quarry associations were nominated
as the vice-Chairmans of the federation. They
include Sri. K. Muralidhar Kota from
Uttarandra granite owners Association; Sri.
Angara Rajesh from Visakhapatnam Granite
Owners Association; Sri. Venka Reddy from
Ballikuruva Granite Owners Association,
Prakasam District; Sri. Laxmi Narayan, from
Ongole,
All the General Secretaries of the District
bodies were nominated as the Joint
secretaries of the Federation. The names
include, Sri. K. Hari Kumar from Uttarndra,
Sri. C. Srinivasa Rao from Visakhapatnam; Sri.
Allu Nagesh, Sri. Azeem, Sri, P.V.Subba Rao,
Sri. B.V.Subba Rao, Sri.N.V.Reddy, Sri
Tirupathi Reddy ;
An
Advisory
Committee
headed by
Chairman
Sri. Sridhar
Anand was
constituted
to advice on various issues. It includes the
veterans in the mining industry Sri. Mudunuru
Srinivas of Bayrock granite P. Ltd, Sri.
Sambesh Rao of Designer rocks P. ltd, Sri
Ramesh Babu, Sri Guna Shekaran of Gem
Granites,
Sri.
Mahesh
from Devi
Narayana,
Mr. Raja
from Pearl
Granites,
Sidda

REPRESENTATION TO THE HONBLE CM

The fraternity of granite industry has met the
Honble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri.
N. Chandrababu garu on 12-4-2016 in the
presence of Sri. Sidda Raghava Rao garu,
Honble Minister of Transport and R&B, and
Smt. Sujata garu, Honble Minister of Mines.
Sri, Girija Shankar, Secretary to Mines and
Geology.
The delegation was led by Sri. Pallava Subba
Reddy, Sidda Venkateswara Rao, Sidda
Hanumantha Rao. Mr. Sridhar Anand Mr.
Gonela, Mr. LaxmiNarayana, Sri. Venka
Reddy, Mr. Rajesh Angara, Sri. Srinivas
Mudunuri, Sri, Muralidhar Kota, Sri.
Harikumar, Sri Nagesh, Sri. C.Srinivasasa Rao,
Sri. Azeem, Sri. Badarinarayana, Sri. Mahesh,
P.V.Subba Rao and Dr.C.H.Rao were also
present.

GOVERNING COUNCIL

A representation on various issues of granite

industry mainly requesting to roll back the
imposition of additional tax burden by way of
DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDAITON has been
given. The Honble Chief minister has
patiently read the representation and
interacted with the fraternity. Mr. Subba
Reddy, Mr. Sidda Hanumantha Rao, Angara
Rajesh, Dr.C.H.Rao spoke. Smt. P. Sujata
garu, Honble Minister of Mines too supported
the cause of the industry and indicated that it
would be additional taxation as the
scenerages were increased recently.
Later the Chief Minister has assured the
gathering that he would look into the matters.
The meeting lasted for 35 minutes.
( FAPGI team would be grateful to Sri. Sidda Raghava
Rao garu and Sri Achannaidu garu Minister for
Labour and Sri.Koona Ravikumar garu for facilitating
the meeting with the Chief Minister. )

Without that meeting the Honble CM and

representation on DMF, the additional 30
percent tax would have been imposed right in
the month of April 2016 itself.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

FEDERATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY

| Issue 001/2016

WHAT IS DMF?
DISTRICT MINERAL FUND IS
MEANT FOR USE IN THE
MINING EFFECTED AREAS
High priority areas like
drinking water supply, health
care, sanitation, education,
skill development, women
and child care, welfare of
aged and disabled people,
skill development and
environment conservation
will get at least 60 per cent
share of the funds

FAPGI MEETING WITH SRI. K.

ATCANNAIDU GARU, HONBLE
MINISTER OF LABOUR ON 19-62016 IMMEDIATELY AFTER
FORMATION OF FEDERATION

For creating a supportive and

conducive living
environment, remaining
funds will be spent on making
roads, bridges, railways,
waterways projects, irrigation
and alternative energy
sources.

All the governing Council members need to

be thanked for their unrelenting contribution
to the Federation.

To Promote systemic coordination between

various silos of the industry such as
Quarrying, Processing, trading and value
additions;
To promote and organize trade through
seminars/workshops in all the districts, in the
capital region of the state, or anywhere in the
country or abroad;
To
coordinate with the government,
institutions and other related industry
federations and engage the law makers and
work towards a healthy, growth oriented
industry; lobby for a frame work of legislations
of international standards;

The Governing Council members of the

Uttarandhra are in the forefront and has led
many delegations of the District association
to the Honble Minister Sri Atchannaidu garu
many times regarding DMF, Environmental
Clearances and other issues.

To formulate various sub-committees to deal

with the different disciplines concerned with
Granite mining, processing Industries and
traders and venders and create a well-oiled,
conflict free and coordinated structures and
processes;

PIVITAL ROLE BY UTTARANDRA

GRANITE OWNERS ASSOCIATION
The role played by members of Uttarandra
granite owners association needs a special
mention here. They played a crucial role in
bringing the issues to the Public
representatives of the District and also
playing a critical role in the formation of the
Federation.

The objectives of the

Federation:
To work on growth of granite quarrying and
processing industries; development of
processes and coordination and healthy
business environment within and among the
various verticals of industry, to imbibe,
educate and inculcate state of the art
technologies;
develop processes of
sustainable mining; work on green practices
in
quarrying
and
processing
and
transportation; education and training of skill
labor in best practices;
Develop methods to lessen the Carbon foot
print;

Any activity or such activity that will help the

growth and welfare of the all the stake
holders of the industry and its eco-system;
To conduct trade fairs, seminars, workshops,
exhibitions of global standards;
To create and own infrastructure and other
trade facilities used for federation activities
and accomplish the objectives;
To collect all the industry related data,
collate, evaluate, and publish information
related to the industry time to time, through

online and offline methods useful for the

growth of the industry.

Work towards exploration, mapping,
identification, marketing of new varieties of
granite;
To work towards growth and development
of small scale, cottage industry,
artisanal, traditional handicrafts,
monuments;
To create a intra- and inter disciplinary
committees to oversee any irregularities of
the industry;
To promote &organize Training of
Supervisors/ Executives / Entrepreneurs of
Granite and other Ancillary or allied Industries;

A NOTE ON GRANITE MINING AND

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSM
FUND (DMF)

S O C IO - E C O N O M IC AN D

E N T V IS - A- V IS D IS T R IC T

M IN E R AL

Introduction
Most of the granite leases are small
holdings and may not on average cross
more than five hectares. Most of the
granite quarry clusters or zones are in rural
areas far from human habitation. Most
of the granite deposits are adjacent to
lands that are either less or unproductive in
nature. By stipulation, government also
grants leases away from human habitation.
Generally, any lessee, before the start of the
mining operation, would look for approaches

FEDERATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY

to reach and transport goods out of the
lease area and utility land for operational
convenience depending on the extent
and requirement of the mining
operations. In most of the cases, lessee
either buys or leases out the land, whether
it is agricultural or non-agricultural
abutting the lease area from the land
owners. No quarry operation is possible
without such prearrangement with the

| Issue 001/2016

Generally, lands abutting most of the

granite deposits are not very productive,
either they are stony, mostly occupied by
adjacent land owners or D-form pasta
lands given to weaker and land less
sections; Land productivity will also be low.
Mostly they are barren lands;

Socio-economic Effects
Most of the effects of granite mining
tend to be positive, barring few
exceptions. Granite mining has created
huge employment to the near by villagers
and mostly the villagers join in unskilled and
semi-skilled jobs in the quarries and they
tend to move up the value chain as they get
more skilled.

adjacent land owner. Moreover, the land

value is decided based on the current
market value of the locality and most often,
the lessee would tend to pay more than the

stipulated market value in view of the

necessity or urgency.
The land owners too sells the land either
due to some financial need; or because

the rate offered by the lessee is more; or

the land is barren and unproductive in
nature and would want to cash out . Also
the sellers tend to reinvest the monies on
some other productive land in the locality;

After agriculture and handlooms granite

mining is the largest employment
generator in Andhra Pradesh. Also, rapid
mechanization of granite quarries due to
high productivity, and
increasing costs of operation has forced
many workers to turn to skilled jobs, such as
mechanics, operators, drivers and helpers and
moved on to more lucrative employment else
where in the industry;
Granite mining industry pays the wages and
other labour emoluments as stipulated by the
Central and state labour agencies, as they
over see and enforce minimum wages
regularly. Also, Directorate of Mines Safety
over sees the safety of the mining
operations and in case of accidents either
minor or fatal, the families of the effected or
deceases workers are amply compensated.
Primary health care is generally provided
through private medical aids and practitioners
to all the workers.
Growth of ancillary industries and more
indirect employment due to mining is seen in
these granite mining zones. Generation of
employment due to transporters, caterers,
petty traders, spares and consumable
suppliers, grocery shop owners, oil bunks,
hotels, corners shops, welders, machine tool
operators, factory hubs, vendors, labour
agents, rentals, community centres and many
such businesses thrive and becomes part of
the mining ecosystem; Heath centres, schools,
banks. ATMs come up to cater to the growing
needs of the mining communities.
Effects on Environment
Compared with bulk major minerals, the
environmental effects of granite mining is very

marginal or negligible. Use of chemical blasting

is limited and restrictive and hence air and
sound pollution is minimal in nature. Wider
application of advanced rock splitting and
cutting machinery currently in the granite
stone mining has further reduced the air,
sound pollutants. The environmental effects
of transportation of granite is nil compared to
the pollution effects of other bulk mineral
transportation by rail or road.
Examples of Granite Quarry clusters;
We have identified some pockets or clusters of

quarries that are operational since more than

two decades and those areas would be ideal for

studying the socio-economic impact of mining
on the lively hoods of the villagers near by the
mining areas. Ex. Borigipeta,
Ramakrishnapuram villages near Tekkali; also
Villages near Chimakurthy and many such
centres of activity in many Districts of Andhra
Pradesh.
It is interesting to note how the granite
mining clusters of Tekkali or Chimakurhty
have become hubs of business activity over
two - two and half decades of mining is well
known to the industry. How these small
nondescript sleepy towns have become
buzzing with mining related trade and
economic activity, and how the mining has
completely changed the standards of living in
these areas is worth studying.
The flip side is that all this happens without
any government or institutional
support to the mining industry. From running
pillar to post for obtaining the leases,
marketing and establishing the market to the
new materials, while hiring or purchasing the
machinery, sourcing the capital, sourcing the

FEDERATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH GRANITE INDUSTRY

| Issue 001/2016

human resources, generating and establishing

multiple cycles of economic activity and
facing the vagaries of global economic
downturns and surviving the huge global
competitions, without any institutional
support, aid or subsidies, and still pay all the
relevant taxes is a huge burdensome business
proposition by itself; Forget the subsidies or
aids, even there is no ease of doing business.
Need for proper study and assessment:
What is not quantifiable is not implementable.
In this constrained economic activity, further
increase of taxes by way of District Mineral
fund, without any proper survey or
assessment on the effects of granite mining is
just not right.

The survey and assessment should capture

data both on pre-existing operating quarries;
and new quarries that go into operations;
Survey and assess, what are all the government
support systems to initiate a quarry operation.
The assessment should also capture existing
key population, lively hood, employment
potential, land-uses, land value and
environmental conditions before and after
commencement of mining;
Survey should take sufficient sample of
quarries in each district representing varied
socio- economic activity to objectively assess
and quantify all the sociological effects as
stipulated in the DMF program.

Though granite is considered minor

mineral, the very intrinsic nature of the
stone product compared with other
minerals is different. All other minerals are
industrial in nature and are used directly
with beneficiation and the recovery
percentages are much higher. Where as
granite as dimensional stone in view of the
aesthetics and process controls, the
recovery is low. However, the royalties are
higher compared with other minerals.
The above graph amply demonstrates the
comparison of granite royalties with other
minor minerals.

The federation hierarchy explains the

relationship between the executive
council, governing council and Advisory
council.
The general members of Federation elect
the executive council and the executive
council intern will elect the governing
council. Advisory council is elected from
the members of the Federation.
The Chairman, General Secretary,
Treasurers, Vice-Chairmans, Joint
Secretaries constitute the Governing
Council.