Chennai: Tamil Nadu govt on Thursday said it is firmly committed to rooting out corruption and ensuring an honest, transparent and clean administration by bringing all departmental procurements and public tenders under stringent monitoring mechanism. “Interference of middlemen and illegal gratification practices that prevailed hitherto will be eliminated,” Governor R V Arlekar said, while reading from the text prepared by state govt.Govt alleged “significant revenue leakage” from mineral resources due to corruption in the mining sector, and said it will pursue efficient, environmentally sustainable mineral exploitation. It said illicit mining and tax evasion are being curbed through stronger regulation and enforcement to ensure revenues reach the treasury. “Through these efforts, govt is striving to double the revenue from minerals,” the governor said.A recent state white paper on fiscal management flagged mining revenue as a major area of stagnation in non-tax income despite rich mineral deposits, citing unchanged fees, leakage in assessing minor mineral extraction, and weak enforcement against unauthorized mining. Mining receipts were ₹4,433 crore during last fiscal after the levying of Mineral Bearing Land Tax, which was about 1.5% of total revenue receipts.
