India Bill Bars States From Taxing Mineral Rights and Land

India is a country with lots of rocks and minerals under the ground, and mining companies dig them up to make useful things.

Right now, both the national government and state governments collect different taxes on mining.

Companies have to pay many taxes, which makes mining very expensive.

A court in India had recently said that state governments are allowed to collect their own taxes on mining land.

The national government has now written a new law proposal, called a bill, to stop states from collecting those extra taxes.

Under the new bill, only the national government can decide taxes on mineral land, and states can only get a payment called royalty.

The government says this will help mining companies save money and dig up more minerals, so India does not have to buy so many minerals from other countries.

Some money that states already collected will be kept by them.

The new bill was shown to the Lok Sabha, the part of Parliament that makes laws, and people are now discussing whether it is fair for states.