Bhubaneswar: The BJD in Odisha Monday announced that it would launch an economic blockade soon, demanding withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act that will allegedly restrict the state’s powers to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land parcels, a charge rejected by the ruling BJP.
The party headed by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik alleged that Odisha’s rights over mines and mineral-bearing land have been taken away by the Centre through the implementation of the amended law.
The BJD also claimed that the new law will hurt the federal structure of democracy.
The ruling BJP rejected the opposition’s allegation, claiming that the BJD was “misleading people by making a false narrative” over the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026
Addressing a press conference, BJD MLA and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo criticised Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for “ignoring Odisha’s five-time chief minister and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik’s letter to him”.
“The chief minister has forgotten minimum courtesy as he did not respond to Patnaik’s letter,” the BJD legislator alleged.
Sahoo pointed out that the LoP had written a letter to Majhi last month, describing that the amendment to the MMDR Act was “against the interests” of the state.
Patnaik had sought to convene a special session of the assembly and an all-party meeting.
Sahoo also asked for the reason behind the chief minister’s alleged silence on the MMDR Act issue.
“According to a judgment of the Supreme Court, Odisha should get more than Rs 1 lakh crore towards outstanding taxes that were to be collected from the mining sector. Along with this, there will be an annual revenue loss of Rs 12,000 crore from the mines per annum if the new law is implemented, he said.
But the state BJP government is “silently supporting such a huge financial loss” to Odisha, the BJD MLA claimed.
“The central government is working in the interests of capitalists, and that is why a huge amount of outstanding revenue has been waived. As a result, mine owners benefited, and the state’s rights over mines and land containing minerals have come under the control of the Centre,” the BJD leader told reporters.
“We will certainly go for the economic blockade if the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026 is not withdrawn and Odisha gets back its rights over the mineral-bearing land parcels,” Sahoo said.
Senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik dismissed the BJD’s claims and said this was a bid by the regional party to “get political mileage by misleading people”.
“The BJD is making false narratives to mislead people in the name of the MMDR Act,” Patnaik told reporters
The BJP leader said the BJD’s proposed economic blockade would only harm Odisha’s economic interests.
He defended the MMDR amendments and said there might be some short-term adjustments initially, but in the long run, states like Odisha will yield long-term benefits.
The new law will help stabilise taxes, attract a larger pool of industrialists and investors to participate in transparent auctions, and ultimately benefit the state’s economy, he claimed.
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