Shillong: Five major cement companies in Meghalaya dodged Rs 43.95 crore in mandatory tribal welfare payments. They exploited an incidental mining loophole while their actual leases sat inactive. The Comptroller and Auditor General exposed this massive loss in its latest report.
These firms pulled 1.85 crore metric tonnes of limestone from the ground between 2018-19 and 2022-23. Regulators let it happen. The Mining and Geology Department failed to provide documentation or government approval for 1.44 crore metric tonnes of that haul. That accounts for 78 per cent of the total extraction.
This money should have funded schools, clinics, and clean water in local villages. The District Mineral Foundation missed out on every cent. The CAG report slammed the state for this failure, noting that the companies’ average extraction actually beat out firms running under standard legal leases. The state’s Mining Department tried to defend the lapse in April 2024 by claiming the minerals came from outside designated lease areas.
The audit rejected that excuse. It termed the department's stance “untenable.” By allowing these companies to bypass the Meghalaya Minor Minerals Concession Rules of 2016, regulators effectively invited systematic rule-breaking. The oversight failure remains total.
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