2024-07-27 06:25:19
New Delhi: The Supreme Court gave a big decision regarding the royalty on mining. The court also said that the royalty that the miners pay to the center cannot be called a tax. It is a contractual payment. The court said that the states have the right to impose tax on mineral land. The nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, with an 8-1 majority, repealed its many years old decision. In 1989, a seven-judge Constitution Bench had said that there is a royalty tax on minerals. Today’s decision of the Supreme Court has given relief to the states. The court’s decision is a setback for the central government and mining companies. This is the reason that miners will now have to pay more tax and the central government will lose its grip in the matter of imposing tax on minerals. Odisha’s share in the country’s total mineral production is about 44 percent. Along with this, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Rajasthan are also far ahead in mineral production. Two types of minerals are found in India. These include metallic and non-metallic minerals. Metallic minerals are those from which metals like gold, silver, copper, zinc and aluminium are extracted. Non-metallic minerals include sand, gypsum, uranium etc. Odisha is called the Mineral State of India. All types of minerals are found in abundance in the state. These include iron ore, manganese, chromite, bauxite and limestone. Along with this, Odisha also has large reserves of coal.
SC On Mineral Tax: There is no royalty tax on minerals, a big decision of the Supreme Court, a big blow to the Center
what is royalty
Companies have to pay a fixed amount for the mineral extracted in proportion to the quantity of the mineral. Such payment is called royalty. Royalty is calculated on the basis of the quantity of minerals extracted or removed. According to the data of the Central Government, Odisha had the highest royalty dues of Rs 1798369.46 lakh from minerals in the year 2021-22. In 2020-21, this figure was Rs 703461.83 lakh. Similarly, Chhattisgarh had Rs 883872.12 lakh, Rajasthan Rs 367596.65 lakh, Jharkhand Rs 279140.34 lakh and Andhra Pradesh Rs 41402.136 lakh as royalty of minerals in 2021-22.
Karnataka owed Rs 254214 lakh, Maharashtra Rs 30453.66 lakh, Gujarat Rs 25165.11 lakh, Telangana Rs 22473.79 lakh, Tamil Nadu Rs 17936.39 lakh and Goa Rs 9755.24 lakh as royalty dues. Uttar Pradesh owed Rs 2452.32 lakh. It is ironic that Jharkhand has the largest coal reserves in the country but it is among the bottom five states in terms of electricity availability.