India clears law to curb new state taxes on mining

Business Recorder reported that India's parliament gave its approval on Thursday to a bill limiting the power of Indian states to introduce fresh duties, cesses and similar charges on mineral rights and lands containing minerals. Under the measure, such levies can only be imposed when the central authority permits it and sets the conditions. The new framework is intended to establish a single tax structure for mining.

According to the federal government, the earlier system created several overlapping levies, different tax rates from one state to another and retrospective demands. These factors generated uncertainty for mining firms and investors. The law is meant to tackle what officials called a heavy and unequal financial load on miners across states.

The legislation also gives the federal government regulatory oversight of mineral-bearing lands, widening its remit beyond the present supervision of mine rules and mineral development. The law also voids outstanding levies, both unpaid and uncollected, that states might have pursued ahead of enactment.