NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian top court’s order that allows states to collect past tax dues from mining companies will have a large financial impact on these firms and affect investments, a senior mines ministry official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters on Wednesday.
The order is expected to have an impact of around 1 trillion rupees ($11.91 billion) on mining companies, the official added, without specifying the timeline of the impact.
India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed state governments to collect mining companies’ tax dues pending from April 1, 2005.
The time for payment or the demand of tax shall be staggered in installments over a period of 12 years, commencing from April 1, 2026, the top court said.
“This will affect the future of mining unless the government brings legislation to overcome this judgement,” said R.K. Sharma, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.
India’s metal index was trading down 1.2% at 2:50 p.m. IST, with JSW Steel down 1.9%, Tata Steel lower 2% and NMDC slipping 6%.
($1 = 83.9450 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Neha Arora and Manvi Pant; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)
