RANCHI, Aug. 28 -- The Jharkhand government is set to move the Supreme Court opposing the amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, which barred States from levying any tax or cess on mined minerals in their respective territorial jurisdictions, people aware of the development said on Thursday. During the monsoon session, both houses of Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to curb taxation of minerals by state governments. This prompted Opposition from some of the non-BJP ruled states including the mine-rich Jharkhand, which has warned of a "massive agitation" besides challenging the move legally. "Chief minister Hemant Soren, who also holds the mines portfolio, has given his nod to move the apex court over the issue. The law department is currently vetting the proposal. After a long legal battle, a historic judgement by a Constitution Bench of the apex court had given states rights over mineral wealth. We will go back to the Supreme Court soon," a senior official aware of the development said. The amendments to the act stem from a July 2024 ruling by the Supreme Court that upheld the power of states to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands. The verdict was hailed as a major fiscal victory for mineral-rich states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, potentially yielding a revenue windfall, but it deeply unsettled mining companies facing retrospective taxation. A week after the Supreme Court ruling, the Jharkhand assembly passed a bill providing for varying degrees of tax on different minerals mined in the state on a per-metric-tonne basis. The act was further amended in the 2025 budget session to increase the cess on mined minerals in the state by up to four times. Officials said the state government projected revenue of Rs.14,656 crore from the Mineral Bearing Land Cess in the 2026-27 budget and earmarked these funds for welfare schemes. Up in arms against the amendments, the ruling allies, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress, have announced phased agitations at the grassroots level, transforming the issue into a major political one in the state, describing it as an attack on "Jharkhandi Asmita" and a transgression into the rights of the Adivasis and the Moolvaisis (original inhabitants) who suffer land loss, displacement, and pollution from mining....