Pinarayi Vijayan Rebuts Sudheeran's Claim, Says It Was UDF Governments That Privatised Black Sand Mining

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has responded to V M Sudheeran's claim that it was the LDF government that opened the door to private-sector black sand mining in Keralam, calling the assertion factually inaccurate. Pinarayi Vijayan said the remark came even as Sudheeran was strongly criticising the UDF government's black sand mining policy. He pointed out that it was the Congress-led central government that first granted private players the authority to undertake such mining, and that the A K Antony-Oommen Chandy governments, which ruled Kerala between 2001 and 2006, had followed suit by permitting the privatisation of black sand mining in the state.

He said that despite strong public protests following the tsunami disaster, the UDF government of the time pressed ahead with its decisions favouring private mining. However, the LDF government that came to power in 2006 took a firm stand against private black sand mining. When mining companies appealed against this to the Union Mining Ministry, the then Congress-led central government and the minister concerned took a stand favourable to the mining lobby.

Despite this favourable central stance, Keralam's LDF government did not relent on private mining, forcing the companies to approach the High Court against the state's decision. When the UDF returned to power in 2011, he alleged, the government deliberately allowed itself to lose the case filed by the companies. Even so, strong public protest prevented the UDF government of the time from implementing its private mining plans as intended.

He noted that when the LDF returned to power in 2016, it did not permit private mining anywhere in the state through 2026. When the central government in 2023 brought in an amendment to the Minor Mineral Licensing Rules favouring the black sand mining lobby, it was Keralam's LDF government that opposed it most strongly — leading the Centre to eventually withdraw the amendment following Keralam's official objection. The LDF government, he said, had maintained an uncompromising stand against the black sand mining lobby over the past decade.

The CPI(M) leader said the previous LDF government had proposed a public-sector-led rare earth corridor, and that the UDF government's budget, by undermining this idea, was instead pursuing privatisation in line with the Centre's approach. He said it was evident that the budget proposal for a "Rare Earth Critical Mineral Corridor" served the interests of the mining lobby.

Pinarayi Vijayan said it was a well-known fact in Keralam that UDF governments have consistently taken positions favouring the black sand mining lobby, and noted that Sudheeran himself had previously criticised UDF governments on this very issue. He suggested that Sudheeran's historically inaccurate remarks now may have been an attempt to balance out his recent criticism of his own front's government on the same matter.