Starting this year, India will monitor thousands of mines with the help of satellites, after a three-month pilot project found rampant illegal extraction of limestone in a big state. Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar declined to name the state ahead of the completion of surveillance in some other regions.<br/><br/>However, he said the findings echoed a multi-billion-dollar iron ore scam that turned India into an importer from a net exporter of the steelmaking commodity. He added that after covering all the major minerals like iron ore and limestone in the next three months, they will look at sand mining. <br/><br/>Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states in India's south, and Rajasthan and Gujarat in the west, are the country's top producers of limestone, a raw material for making cement. The state-run Indian Bureau of Mines is digitising maps of all mines under the purview of the ministry to check whether companies are violating rules by mining outside their lease areas.