The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has said the State Government is in the process of changing its mining policy with the aim of maintaining a balance between the availability of raw material and safeguarding the ecology.
Because of high bidding in sand mining, big players get work and sometimes they present a threat to the river ecology, Mr Chouhan told presspersons here last evening.
The Government wants to check big players and open avenues for small contractors in sand mining, he said.
Despite constraints, the State achieved average growth of 10.2 per cent in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, he said.
The Chief Minister charged the Opposition Congress with trying to influence the Centre to desist from meeting the timely requirements of the State including fertilisers, gunny bags and coal.