VOC port begins sand despatch

In October last year, a cargo ship hauling 55,000 tonnes of river sand, which was imported from Malaysia by a private party, arrived at the VOC port. However, the consignment was caught in legal issues as officials objected to moving the sand out of the port. 

After clearing the hurdles, Supreme Court fixed a price of Rs. 9,990 per unit of sand that was imported by the private party. 

State government paid a sum of Rs 10.17 crore to the Supreme Court on September 30 and based on this, order for clearing the import sand was issued.

Collector Sandeep Nanduri, when contacted, said there was a good response from buyers, who booked online for purchasing the imported sand. One buyer could purchase up to five units. In the first phase, a volume of 11,000 tonnes of sand would be sold, the Collector added.

Those interested in purchasing this sand could log on to www.tnsand.in

Sources at the port said four trips were made to deliver sand to buyers, who were mostly from Salem, on Tuesday. The clearance of import sand in the first phase might go on till December 3, sources said.