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Informist, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

NEW DELHI – The Rajya Sabha Thursday passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, despite protest by the opposition parties. The bill was tabled by Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy and was passed by the Upper House amid a din. The Lok Sabha had already passed the bill Wednesday. With the passing of the bill in the Rajya Sabha, both the Houses have now passed the bill.

The bill allows shifting of the regulation of mines and mineral-rich lands to the Centre from the states. The bill also curbs the power of states to levy tax, cess, or any other duty on mineral-bearing lands. "The Centre is not doing any interference in the financial or mineral situation of the States with the bill. Through this bill, we only want prices of minerals to be same across India," the mining minister said during the discussion on the bill.

"In 2014-15, the state governments got 64% revenue through mineral mining. But today, the states government are getting 85% of revenue through mineral mining under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi...During Congress' tenure, the state government's got only 55% revenue through coal. Today this revenue has gone up to 96% under the leadership of the prime minister," the minister said, adding that the Centre only gets 4% as revenue through coal mining. 

Taking a dig at the coal scam under the United Progressive Alliance tenure, the mining minister said that the Centre wants to use these minerals for the economic development of the country. "Today the Narendra Modi government has auctioned several coal blocks, but during Congress' tenure coal scam happened. In the last 12 years, we have allocated coal mining blocks through transparency," the minister said. 

According to the government, excessive fiscal burden makes mining operations commercially unviable, discourages mineral extraction, adversely affects mineral production and, in some cases, leads to closure of mines. "No tax, cess or such other levy (by whatever name called) shall be imposed by the state government on (a) mineral rights; or (b) mineral bearing lands, either based on mineral quantity or mineral value or royalty payable or otherwise, except in accordance with such conditions or restrictions as may be prescribed by the central government," as per the bill.

"I assure you that no state will loose revenue because of the bill but there revenue will only increase," the minister said. As per the government, unbalanced imposition of steep taxes and levies will prompt industry to bypass local supply lines, leading to sub-optimal development of markets, increased transportation costs, and the resultant pollution load. "There is also a risk of an increase in imports of minerals despite having sufficient local mineral resources as domestic mineral supply becomes expensive," it said.  End

Reported by Astha Oriel 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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