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Parliament completed passage of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 on 13 August 2026, when the Rajya Sabha cleared it; the Lok Sabha had passed it on 12 August 2026.
The Bill was introduced on 10 August 2026 by the Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, and becomes law on Presidential assent under Article 111.
It restricts States from levying independent taxes, cesses or levies on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land except as authorised under central guidelines, and invalidates past State levies that remain unrecovered or undeposited - without requiring refund of amounts already collected.
Leaseholders may add further minerals, including lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, gold and silver, to an existing lease without extra payment, and the cap on sale of minerals from captive mines is removed.
The Bill was opposed on the ground that it curtails the fiscal powers of States, effectively reversing the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that States may tax mineral rights.
Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent declared by Parliament to be expedient in the public interest - the basis of central control.
Taxes on lands and buildings, and taxes on mineral rights subject to any limitations imposed by Parliament by law relating to mineral development. The phrase 'subject to any limitations' is what the 2026 Bill invokes.
A nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud held 8:1 that royalty under the MMDR Act is a contractual consideration and not a tax, so States' power to tax mineral rights is not extinguished by the central law.
Permitted States to raise or renew such tax demands, but not for transactions before 1 April 2005 - the ruling that generated the large accumulated State demands the 2026 Bill now invalidates.
Governs assent of the President to a Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament.
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act is enacted as the principal law for mineral regulation.
Amendment introduces mandatory auction for grant of mineral concessions and creates the District Mineral Foundation and the National Mineral Exploration Trust.
Amendment creates the Exploration Licence for private exploration agencies and lists critical and strategic minerals in Part D of the First Schedule.
Nine-judge Supreme Court bench rules 8:1 that royalty is not a tax and States may levy taxes on mineral rights.
Union Cabinet approves the National Critical Mineral Mission, outlay about Rs 16,300 crore for 2024-25 to 2030-31.
Parliament passes the MMDR Amendment Bill, 2026, restricting State taxation of mineral rights.
Royalty is consideration paid to the owner of the mineral for the right to extract it; a tax is a compulsory exaction by a sovereign. The 2024 ruling turned on exactly this distinction.
Lithium, cobalt, graphite and nickel are inputs for batteries and renewables; the National Critical Mineral Mission and the easier addition of these minerals to existing leases both aim at securing domestic supply.
Mines reserved to supply the leaseholder's own plant. Removing the sale cap lets surplus output reach the open market, improving utilisation but reducing the distinction from merchant mining.
Created by the 2015 amendment, funded by a share of royalty, to spend on communities affected by mining - the other channel through which mineral wealth reaches States and districts.
GS Paper 2 > Indian Constitution - functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges of the federal structure; GS Paper 3 > mineral resources and industrial policy
General Awareness > Polity and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Economy and Legislation
General Awareness > Current Events of National Importance
Under which Schedule of the Constitution of India can the transfer of tribal land to private parties for mining be declared null and void?
Answer: Fifth Schedule
A mine whose output is reserved for the leaseholder's own industry or plant rather than for open-market sale.
Consideration paid by a mining lessee to the lessor for the right to extract minerals; the Supreme Court held in 2024 that it is not a tax.
Minerals essential to modern industry and the energy transition, listed in Part D of the First Schedule to the MMDR Act; India has identified 24 of them.
The constitutional provision on the President's assent to a Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament.