AAP failed to fulfil its poll promise of generating Rs 20K cr a year from mining sector: BJP

Chandigarh, Jul 6 (PTI) Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Monday alleged that the AAP government had failed to fulfil its election promise of generating Rs 20,000 crore annually from sand and gravel mining, claiming that the state earned only around Rs 600 crore from the sector in 2025-26. Addressing a press conference, Dhillon said the AAP had promised to curb illegal mining and substantially increase revenue from the mining sector after coming to power in Punjab. However, he alleged that despite being in office for more than four years, the government neither stopped illegal mining nor achieved its revenue target. According to Dhillon, the state collected about Rs 600 crore in mining-related revenue in 2025-26. He also claimed that nearly Rs 150 crore of this amount came from taxes on mining material brought into Punjab from neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, leaving an even smaller contribution from mining within the state. Dhillon asked what happened to the remaining Rs 19,400 crore that had been promised in the run-up to the 2022 elections. The BJP leader also alleged that illegal mining continued unabated in Punjab, with tipper trucks operating openly and riverbeds being exploited even as the government failed to act. Dhillon also targeted AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that the promises he made to the people of Punjab had turned out to be mere rhetorics. He claimed that the government's much-publicised "revolution" had failed to deliver tangible results, and accused it of mismanaging the state's natural resources. Dhillon also alleged that Punjab's rivers had been subjected to rampant illegal mining while the state treasury had not benefited as promised. He said the people of Punjab were now seeking accountability from the AAP government over what he termed unfulfilled guarantees. He added that this was only one of several election promises on which the ruling party failed to deliver. The BJP would continue to raise the issue and demand accountability from the government over its commitments to the people of Punjab, Dhillon said. PTI VSD ARI