Lok Sabha Passes Mineral Bill Curbing State Taxing Powers

India is a very big country made up of many states.

Some rules are made by the state governments, and other rules are made by the big central government in Delhi.

Deep under the ground there are minerals that companies dig up and sell.

For a long time, people argued about who should get money from the companies that take these minerals.

A very important court said the states could ask for that money, going all the way back to 2005.

Then, in Parliament, the leaders passed a new law very quickly, with no discussion at all.

The new law says the states can no longer decide these taxes for themselves, and the old money that was promised to them is cancelled.

The people who made the law say it helps companies know exactly what they have to pay.

But some state leaders are unhappy, and the leader from Kerala says it is unfair to states like his.

He also worries that poor fishing villages near the minerals were never asked what they think.