JMM-Congress attitude on opposition to MMDR amendment just political drama: Babulal Marandi

Opposition leader Babulal Marandi has attacked the opposition to the MMDR Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament by the India Alliance leaders including Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Sorin's statement. He said that protest by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Jhammoo) and Congress on this issue is just a political drama.
Addressing a press conference held at the party's state office, Mr. Marandi said that the Hemant government is trying to mislead the people of the state by playing dirty politics on the pretext of this bill. Mr. Marandi advised Hemant Soren, Jhammoo and the Congress to refrain from ambiguity and misleading politics on the issue. He said that unnecessary politics is being done over this bill and the MMDR bill is being resorted to only to divert attention from the demands of the students.
Mr. Marandi said that the confusion being spread by the Jharkhand government regarding the MMDR Amendment Bill 2026 is contrary to the facts. The bill is not intended to take away mining revenue from states. States' share of royalty, DMF, NMET, auction premium and GST will remain unchanged and about 90 per cent of the payments from the mining sector will continue to go to the states. He said that between 2014-15 and 2024-25, the mineral revenue of the states has increased by about 354 per cent from Rs 25,206 crore to Rs 1,14,549 crore. States' share of total mineral revenue was only 60 per cent in 2014-15, increasing to more than 88 per cent in 2024-25. In such a situation, saying that the Center is taking away the mineral revenue of the states is an attempt to mislead the people.
Mr. Marandi said that the real problem of Jharkhand is not the center but the state government's own mineral policy. The government has imposed a uniform cess of Rs 600 per tonne on iron ore, which is almost 27 times higher than the Rs 22.50 per tonne levied in Chhattisgarh. This has particularly affected the production and market of low-grade iron ore. He said that the state government also increased the cess on coal from Rs 100 to Rs 450 per tonne in just 16 months. Meanwhile, BCCL's production in 2025-26 is down from 40.50 million tonnes to 35.52 million tonnes, a decline of 12.3 per cent.
Mr. Marandi said that if the government wants to increase mineral revenue, it should first activate its mines. In the last six years, Jharkhand has auctioned only four mines and none of them became operational. In contrast, Odisha received an auction premium of around Rs 87,000 crore by launching 35 mines. Jharkhand received zero revenue from the auction premium. Mr. Marandi said the impact was also visible on production. Odisha's iron ore production increased to 180 million tonnes from around 120 million tonnes between 2018-19 and 2024-25, while Jharkhand's output remained at around 23 million tonnes. Jharkhand, which has about 40% of the mineral reserves of the country, is not able to make proper use of its mineral wealth.
Mr. Marandi said that the MMDR amendment would not affect minor minerals, sand and stone and the control of the states would remain intact. Yet the state government continues to blame the center for its administrative failures. In West Singhbhum, delays in lease renewals have affected mining and local employment. He said that it is wrong to blame the Center even in the name of DMF. About Rs 19,000 crore has been collected under DMF in Jharkhand, while about Rs 3,700 crore has been collected in West Singhbhum alone. The question is why this money was not effectively used in the development of the mining affected areas and rural residents.
Mr. Marandi said that the behavior of JMM-Congress in opposing the MMDR amendment is also a political drama. The absence of Jhammoo-Congress MPs during the debate in Parliament raises questions about the seriousness of their alleged opposition. Students are constantly protesting for their rights and transparency in recruitment exams, but the government is busy diverting public attention instead of responding to these issues.