MUMBAI: India over import of sand has revealed that Malaysia has been exporting manufactured sand (m-sand) to the country, and not just river sand as previously reported. Jagadish Shettar, the opposition leader of the state of Karnataka, on Wednesday accused the ruling Congress party in the state of misappropriating RM3.5 billion from imports of Malaysian m-sand. He was reported by the Times of India (ToI) as claiming that the move to import the material was made without the approval of the state cabinet.He said state-owned trading company Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL) had called for global tenders for sand on May 24 last year, with the intention of importing 3.6 million tonnes in five years.Shettar claimed that available documents showed Poseidon FZE, the company which was awarded the tender, was registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from June 18, 2017.“It doesn’t have any experience of providing m-sand to any customer,” he was quoted as saying.The government has been involved in illegal sand-mining for four years. Instead of regularising local sand-mining, it decided to import m-sand from Malaysia without cabinet approval,” he added.Unlike river sand, m-sand is derived from hard granite stone that is crushed, and is used mostly in the construction industry. On Nov 2 last year, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had confirmed that Putrajaya had given approval to two companies to export sand to India.
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