Government to look at accusation on import of Malaysian sand

Bengaluru: R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries on Thursday announced in the Legislative Assembly that he would examine the allegations of irregularities in import   of Malaysian sand and pricing.

The allegations were pointed by Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar, during a debate. Deshpande said such a misdeed could not have taken place. He said he would look into the allegations and place all the documents before the House for a public inspection. He also asked Shettar to furnish all the documents to support his allegations.

 Jagadish earlier claimed that the firm that was under the contract for importing sand from Malaysia to fight sand shortage in the State. Though the actual cost of a 50-kg bag of sand was only Rs. 107.90, Mysore Sales International Ltd. (MSIL), which is selling the sand, had fixed the price at Rs. 200 a bag, he alleged. He questioned as why people had to pay Rs. 40,000 for a tonne of sand and named it a scam.

The issue remains vagueness as the two Ministers concerned — Minister for Mines Vinay Kulkarni and Deshpande — swing the responsibility on each other.