Andhra Pradesh’s new model for sale of sand for construction is expected to fetch over Rs. 4,000 crore this year according to the economic advisor to the State, C Kutumbarao. “This could be one among the new revenue sources besides sale of Red Sander logs in the international market which would fetch another Rs. 2,000 crore per annum. Given the financial situation we are in, the budget allocation for farm loan waiver was only limited to Rs. 5,000 crore,” he said. The additional revenue from sale of sand as well as red sanders would be a regular annual affair as the government is planning to harvest red sanders plantations on a mission mode. On sand mining, the government has decided to go for organised mining from sand reaches in river beds, reservoirs, private patta-lands and manufacturing of artificial sand. The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation has submitted a detailed report to the government. As per the report, the current consumption of sand in the State is pegged at 375 lakh tonnes per annum. “The consumption is likely to go up multiple times with the massive projects such as construction of capital city, smart cities and Polavaram project etc. However, the sand mining potential from river beds and over 100 reservoirs in the State would surpass the requirement,” the report stated. Taking the environmental concerns into account in certain sensitive regions, the State government has proposed to set up ten sand manufacturing units with subsidy backup by 2017. These units will have a potential to produce 125 lakh tonnes of sand per annum according to the report.