Bhubaneswar: BJP and BJD traded salvos over the MMDR Act, with the saffron party saying former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik was “shedding crocodile tears”, and the regional outfit accusing it of “telling lies” that the state would not suffer losses due to the new mining law.
Parliament in August passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to restrict states’ powers to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands.
“Both BJD and its president Naveen Patnaik are shedding crocodile tears over the MMDR Act. The state has lost Rs 1.03 crore lakh for the inefficiencies of the previous BJD government,” the Odisha BJP said in a social media post Tuesday evening.
BJD MP Santrupt Misra, on the other hand, alleged that the BJP was not working for the interests of Odisha.
“The new legislation strips mineral-bearing states, including Odisha, of their rights over mines and mining lands. This is an attack on the federal system,” Misra told reporters.
Alleging that the BJP leaders were telling “blatant lies”, he said the central government has permanently taken away the rights of the state governments over mines and mineral-bearing lands.
“In the judgment delivered by the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on July 25, it was held that states can impose taxes and levies on mines and mineral-bearing lands,” Misra claimed.
He also asserted that the judgment stated that taxes and levies pending since 2005 could be recovered.
According to this verdict, Odisha had become entitled to receive more than Rs 1 lakh crore towards arrears, and the way had been cleared for the state to receive an additional Rs 12,000 crore annually as revenue, he claimed.
In another press conference, opposition Congress said it strongly opposed the MMDR Act and has launched a statewide agitation, “while the BJD’s activities were confined to press conferences and writing letters”.