BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader Srikant Jena has urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to withdraw the petition on the Orissa Rural Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development (ORISED) Act, 2004 pending in the Supreme Court following the apex court’s rejection of the Centre’s review plea.
The Supreme Court in its latest judgment on October 4 upheld its own orders of July 25 and August 14, 2024, allowing states to levy taxes and cess on minerals and mineral-bearing lands.
The former Union minister said the chief minister should convene a special session of the Assembly to scrap the ORISED Act, 2004, and introduce a new bill in the greater interest of Odisha and its people. Jena said the new bill should include several important provisions to better serve the interests of Odisha, which was completely ignored in the ORISED Act. A committee of experts should be formed to determine the market value of minerals. The committee must be chaired by a high court judge to ensure transparency and fairness in the valuation process, he said and added it will assess the true market value based on quality, demand, and location advantages.
Besides, ceiling of 20 per cent tax on minerals as mentioned in ORISED Act should be removed. Bauxite and chromite ores are in abundance in Odisha. The state should take the locational and qualitative advantage of these specifically located minerals in Odisha and fix cess at 50 per cent of the market value. Cess on iron, manganese and coal should be increased to 30-40 per cent of the market value, he added.