Different Stands of States over the mining amendment

Gist Parliament's passage of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Amendment Act, 2026 has barred States from imposing fresh taxes on mineral rights and lands without the Centre's conditions, while cancelling uncollected past dues. This effectively curtails the fiscal autonomy of mineral-rich States, overriding a recent Supreme Court judgment that protected their taxation powers. For a civil services aspirant, this development is a critical case study in India's asymmetric fiscal federalism, illustrating how legislative centralization and political alignment influence Centre-State relations. Background The Constitution divides legislative authority over mining between the Union and the States. Under Entry 23 of the State List , State governments can regulate mines and minerals, but this is explicitly subject to Entry 54 of the Union List , which allows Parliament to take control of mining regulation in the public interest. Separately, States possess the fiscal power to tax mineral rights and lands under Entry 50 and Entry 49 of the State List , respectively. Before this amendment, the Supreme Court established in 2024 that while Parliament could limit State taxes on mineral rights,…