State government allows private agencies to import sand from Malaysia; Know the guidelines

Bhatkallys News Bureau/ I. Zaorez Shabab Bengaluru 27 Dec 2017: Karnataka State Government is all set to allow private agencies to import sand from Malaysia. Guidelines have been framed for the importers which is expected to come out officially by Wednesday 27 Dec evening. Private agencies will be required to obtain a 'sand dealer license' from the state government before importing the sand from Malaysia and then sand can be imported only from agencies in Malaysia who have the permit of sand mining and trading from the Malaysia Government. The guidelines further mention that the imported sand should comply the standards of Bureau of Indian Standards certification. The importers will have to obtain further five certificates from the state government. State Government will charge Rs. 60 per one tonne of imported sand. MSIL has fixed a price of Rs 195 per 50 kg bag of sand which is expected to be available in the market by Early February. Rajender Kumar Kataria, secretary in the department of commerce and industries ( mines and MSME) said that sand brought from Malaysia will be sold to consumers only after confirming that it does not harm the environment here. He further added  "Now when the private agencies are allowed to import sand, sand will be available at cheap, competitive rates in the state and the scarcity of sand will be met soon".