TN Minister T.K. Prabhu Announces New Mining Corporation, Drone Surveillance to Curb Illegal Mining

Tamil Nadu Minister for Natural Resources T.K. Prabhu, participating in the debate on demands for grants for his department in the Legislative Assembly on August 26, announced a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening mineral governance, improving surveillance and modernising the state's mining sector.

Prabhu said the government would set up a new public-sector entity, the Tamil Nadu Mineral Resources Development Corporation Limited, marking the state's entry into mining business, alongside a separate drone section and an integrated electronic mineral management platform to check illegal mining.

A state-level mines control and monitoring centre will also be established at an estimated cost of about ₹2 crore to strengthen surveillance against illegal quarrying and mineral theft.

On geological heritage, the minister announced a plant fossil park to be developed at lakes in the Kunduperumbedu and Vellarai villages of Kancheepuram district, and said the government would prepare a detailed project report for mining tourism centres at abandoned mines and stone quarries through the public-private partnership model.