Patnaik blames Odisha BJP MPs for mines law passage

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Friday blamed BJP MPs from Odisha for the passage of the amended mines law in Parliament, and asked the chief minister to pause its implementation as the legislation infringes the State’s constitutional rights and would stymie its progress.

The party has announced it will hold a massive rally outside the Assembly on September 28 to protest against the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.

The Monsoon Session of the Odisha Assembly has been facing disruptions for four days now, as the opposition BJD and Congress MLAs, sporting black scarves, raised slogans in the House on Friday, demanding repeal of the law. The proceedings had to be adjourned till 4 pm.

Following the adjournment, leader of the Opposition, Patnaik, said: “As far as the MMDR Act is concerned, why blame others when 20 Lok Sabha MPs from Odisha belonging to the BJP supported the bill in Parliament?”

“The BJD will take this up strongly with the State Government and ask it to pause and examine the issue, as this process could lead to a huge loss of revenue for the State,” the former chief minister said.  Under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, passed by Parliament in August, the Centre seeks to take under its control the regulation of mineral-bearing lands containing mineral deposits in accordance with parameters prescribed under the legislation. Opposition parties in Odisha have alleged that the law “snatches the rights” of mineral-rich states and weakens their financial autonomy.

Immediately after the Bill was passed in Parliament, Patnaik on August 29 wrote to Odisha BJP MPs urging them to call for a reversal of the amendments, saying the changes curtail the state’s powers to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land.

He had also appealed to the saffron party MPs to safeguard the interests of the people who elected them to Parliament. “I earnestly appeal to you (BJP MPs) to listen to your conscience and think about the future generations of Odisha. I appeal to you to challenge and call for a reversal of the amendment made in the MMDR Act that takes away the powers of the State Government,” he had said in the letter. Odisha MPs, including former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, had claimed that the new mining law would instead benefit all states, including Odisha. One of the MPs claimed the new law would boost economic activities in the State.

BJD vice-president Pratap Jena claimed that Odisha would suffer a loss of over Rs 1 lakh crore and pointed out that a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on July 25, 2024, ruled that States could impose taxes and levies on mines and minerals.

“This created an opportunity for Odisha to receive Rs 1 lakh crore towards arrears, and Rs 12,000 crore annually as revenue from mining. However, the State lost the opportunity due to the implementation of the Act,” Jena said. Following the 2024 general elections, the BJP has 20 Lok Sabha MPs, and the Congress has one. However, the BJD has five MPs in the Rajya Sabha, who had opposed the MMDR Amendment Act when it came to the Upper House of Parliament.