INDIA bloc seeks withdrawal of MMDR Act

Bhubaneswar: Opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday organised a mass convention here, demanding withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, and protection of Odisha’s rights over its mineral resources, land and forests. Constituent parties of the grouping, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, NCP, Samajwadi Party and RJD, participated in the convention, and resolved to intensify the stir and stage an ‘Assembly gherao’ on September 29 to press for their demands.

Addressing the programme, leaders of the Opposition parties dubbed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026 as “anti-Odisha, anti-people and unconstitutional”. They alleged that the BJP’s “double-engine” government in Odisha had betrayed the people of the State. The Act, recently passed in Parliament, seeks to amend the regulations for mines and minerals, whereby States will be restricted from levying additional tax on mineral rights. The INDIA bloc leaders claimed that the Act undermines the constitutional and fiscal rights of mineral-bearing States, and provides greater scope for exploitation of mineral resources by corporate entities.

Linking Odisha’s taxation and revenue-raising powers over mineral resources with Central approval was a “serious assault on the State’s fiscal autonomy”, they asserted. Leaders of the bloc further stated that by preventing the recovery of previously uncollected taxes, cess and arrears, mineral-rich States like Odisha stand to lose enormous revenue, “running into lakhs of crores of rupees”.

Provisions relating to the expansion of mining leases and composite licence areas, as well as the expansion of captive mining areas without open auction, “would provide greater opportunities for large corporate entities to appropriate mineral resources and maximise their profits”, they said.

The BJP government was conspiring to hand over Odisha’s natural resources to corporates for large-scale exploitation, the party leaders alleged. The ruling BJP has maintained that the new mining law will be “beneficial” for the State, hitting out at the Opposition parties for “misleading” people over the Act.

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The Hans India