Overview
- On Tuesday, Sept. 8, the Odisha Janata Congress led by Mohammad Moquim staged an economic blockade at Chandikhole that blocked National Highway 16 as the first on-the-ground protest against the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026.
- The Biju Janata Dal has scheduled a mass dharna outside Lok Bhavan on Sept. 9 and will submit a memorandum to the President through the governor while urging a special assembly session under Article 174 to challenge the law.
- The INDIA Bloc held a state-level convention and announced district rallies across mineral districts in September and an assembly gherao on Sept. 29 to press for withdrawal and consider an Odisha bandh and wider blockades.
- Opposition parties claim the amendment limits state powers to levy extra taxes on mineral rights and will cost Odisha roughly Rs 12,000 crore a year plus large outstanding dues, and they invoke a recent nine-judge Supreme Court ruling to question the change’s constitutionality.
- The BJP rejects the revenue and legal claims and says states will still get royalties, auction premiums and levies; continued protests risk local economic disruption in mining districts and could force court or political contests over fiscal and tribal rights.