As per Mines and Minerals Act of 1957, the beaches of Orissa Sand Complex, Manavalakurichi in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, have been identified as the main monazite bearing area in India.
Over 2.1 million tons of monazite is said to have been processed from the beaches of India since 2014. VV Minerals India has been largely accused of illegal mining in the area without any substantial evidence. The founder of the company, S Vaikundarajan, stated that the company has operated within the legal boundaries and has not engagement in illegal beach mining.