The Andhra Pradesh department of Mines and Geology has decided to slap a penalty against Andru Minerals after a probe revealed the company flouted norms to excavate 200,000mt of bauxite. Andru Minerals had shut down its operations at Vathada village in East Godavari district of Southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh in 2019.
Top officials of the Mines and Geology Department mull to take action against the company for excavating more than the permitted quantity of laterite.
A probe by the department found that Andru Minerals had supplied 3.4mn mt of minerals to Vedanta and exported 450,000mt to China. The company must have been mining bauxite as very little laterite gets exported, suspected officials.
The inquiry further suggested, the lease awarded to the company was on the estimation that there was no bauxite as aluminium content remained less than 38pc at the pithead. The department of mine suspects, the company excavated bauxite using eight of its mining licenses.