As many as nine companies allegedly involved in illegally mining granite stone in Madurai district have been banned from exporting the blue metal.
Official sources said the ban was imposed by the Customs Department following a letter from Madurai Rural Police to them stating that cases were registered against these companies for illegal granite mining.
Customs officials said if the granite companies had any outstanding committed orders, they should obtain ‘No Objection’ certificates from the Revenue Department.
Cases have been filed against several granite companies in Madurai district, including one in which Union Minister M K Alagiri’s son is a partner, following a recent official report which pegged loss to the state exchequer at over Rs 16,000 crore due to illegal quarrying.