{"id":67508,"date":"2026-06-08T15:45:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=67508"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:45:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:45:51","slug":"india-supreme-court-upholds-higher-royalty-on-iron-ore-dispatches-after-statutory-revision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=67508&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"India: Supreme Court upholds higher royalty on iron ore dispatches after statutory revision"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Supreme Court clarifies applicability of revised royalty rates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Centre&#8217;s royalty hike from 10% to 15% triggers litigation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Supreme Court has held that buyers of iron ore are liable to pay the royalty rate prevailing at the time of mineral dispatch, even if the auction was concluded and payments were made before a subsequent statutory increase in royalty.<\/p>\n<p>A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh allowed the appeal filed by the Karnataka Directorate of Mines and Geology against BMM Ispat Ltd., overturning a Karnataka High Court judgment that had favoured the steelmaker.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute stemmed from iron ore purchased by BMM Ispat through e-auctions conducted by the Monitoring Committee constituted by the Supreme Court following the mining ban in Karnataka. In June 2014, BMM Ispat successfully bid for iron ore lots and paid the applicable royalty at 10%, the prevailing rate at the time.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Central Government revised iron ore royalty rates from 10% to 15% with effect from 1 September 2014 through an amendment to the Second Schedule of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act).<\/p>\n<p>While BMM Ispat had completed payment before the amendment, a portion of the auctioned ore was lifted and transported after the revised royalty came into force. Following an audit objection, authorities deducted the differential 5% royalty amounting to over Rs 2 crore from the company&#8217;s security deposit.<\/p>\n<p>The company challenged the deduction, arguing that the royalty applicable on the date of auction and payment should govern the transaction. The Karnataka High Court had accepted this argument, observing that imposing a higher royalty after acceptance of bids would be unjust.<\/p>\n<p>Reversing the High Court&#8217;s decision, the Supreme Court held that royalty under Section 9 of the MMDR Act is linked to the removal or dispatch of minerals rather than the date of auction or contractual agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The Court observed that a contractual arrangement cannot override a subsequent statutory amendment. It noted that royalty rates prescribed under the MMDR Act are statutory in nature and remain subject to revisions notified by the Central Government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The payment is to be made on the date of the movement of the minerals. If the date of movement is after the enhancement in royalty, a contract entered into prior to the statutory change cannot limit its impact,&#8221; the Court noted.<\/p>\n<p>The bench further noted that the auction purchaser had the option to lift the material before the royalty revision came into effect but chose to transport the ore in phases or after the amendment date. Consequently, it could not avoid the liability arising from the increased royalty rate.<\/p>\n<p>The judgment reinforces the principle that statutory levies applicable to mineral dispatches are determined by the law prevailing at the time of removal and not necessarily by the contractual terms agreed upon earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Industry observers believe the ruling could serve as an important precedent for future disputes involving changes in mining royalties, duties, or other statutory levies occurring between the execution of mineral sale contracts and the actual dispatch of material.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court clarifies applicability of revised royalty rates Centre&#8217;s royalty hike from 10% to 15%&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iron-steel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1780911943",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1?v=1780911943",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1?v=1780911943",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1780911943",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1780911943",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1780911943",1280,720,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1780911943",1280,720,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?resize=1115%2C715&ssl=1?v=1780911943",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1?v=1780911943",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1?v=1780911943",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?resize=540%2C340&ssl=1?v=1780911943",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1?v=1780911943",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Biz Trend 24","author_link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/author\/online24"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&#038;lang=en\" rel=\"category\">Iron &amp; Steel<\/a>","tag_info":"Iron &amp; Steel","comment_count":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1780911943","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55604,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=55604&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":0},"title":"India: NMDC to auction over 160,000 t of iron ore and pellet from Karnataka","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"NMDC will auction around 161,000 t of iron ore and pellet from Karnataka. Kumaraswamy mines :\u00a040,000-t (10-40 mm, Fe 63.15%) CLO and 116,000-t (Fe 60.53-61.31%) iron ore fines on 31 Jan'26. Donimalai pellet plant :\u00a05,000-t off-grade pellets (Fe 63%, Al2O3 3.5-4.5%, SiO2 3.5-4.5%) on 31 Jan. Floor prices are yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-29T141332.207.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-29T141332.207.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-29T141332.207.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-29T141332.207.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-29T141332.207.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51473,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=51473&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":1},"title":"India: Karnataka to auction around 270,000 t of iron ore","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Karnataka miners set to auction around 267,996 t iron ore. KSMCL:\u00a072,000-t lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 60.38-63.03%) and 183,996-t fines (Fe 60.28-61.53%) on 31 Dec'25. Vedanta:\u00a012,000-t lumps (6-20 mm, Fe 47.75-55.5%) on 23 Dec'25. Floor prices are yet to be declared and will be exclusive of royalty, DMF and NMEDT charges.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design_-_2025-12-22T162119.610_1200x630.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1%3Fv%3D1766398938&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design_-_2025-12-22T162119.610_1200x630.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1%3Fv%3D1766398938&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design_-_2025-12-22T162119.610_1200x630.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1%3Fv%3D1766398938&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design_-_2025-12-22T162119.610_1200x630.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1%3Fv%3D1766398938&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design_-_2025-12-22T162119.610_1200x630.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1%3Fv%3D1766398938&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54525,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=54525&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":2},"title":"India: NMDC to auction around 200,000 t of iron ore from Karnataka","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"NMDC will auction around 200,000 t of iron ore from Karnataka. NMDC Kumaraswamy:\u00a040,000-t (10-40 mm, Fe 62.31%) CLO and 80,000-t fines (Fe 60.03-62.57%) on 21 Jan'26. NMDC Donimalai:\u00a040,000-t lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 54%) and 40,000-t fines (Fe 56%) on 20 Jan'26. Floor prices are yet to be declared and exclude\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153436.800.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153436.800.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153436.800.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153436.800.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153436.800.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53232,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=53232&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":3},"title":"India: Over 500,000 t of iron ore to be auctioned from Karnataka","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Around 540,000 t of iron ore will be auctioned from Karnataka from 8-12 Jan'25. NMDC Kumaraswamy (8 Jan):\u00a0224,000 t (10-40 mm, Fe 60.41-62.99%) CLO and 152,000 t fines (-10mm, Fe 59.11-61.77%). SKMEPL (12 Jan):\u00a0112,000 t (Fe 49-54%) fines at INR 1,800-2,500\/t and 52,000 t lumps (5-40 mm, Fe 54-59.3%) at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T125625.381.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T125625.381.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T125625.381.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T125625.381.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T125625.381.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57390,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=57390&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":4},"title":"India: Around 60,000 t of iron ore sold at Karnataka-based auctions","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"February 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"At Karnataka-based auctions on 16 Feb'26, 57,550-t iron ore were booked. SMIORE:\u00a09,000-t lumps (5-20 mm, Fe 54.2-55.2%) were sold at INR 3,403-3,664\/t, 13,000-t lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 52.8-58.1%) at INR 2,953-4,870\/t, 16,000-t lumps (20-40 mm, Fe 56.1-56.4%) at INR 4,251-4,262\/t, and 8,000-t fines (Fe 61.5%) at INR 4,124-4,144\/t. R Praveen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-17T144513.934.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-17T144513.934.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-17T144513.934.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-17T144513.934.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-17T144513.934.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56036,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=56036&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":67508,"position":5},"title":"India: Around160,000 t of iron ore booked at NMDC&#8217;s Kumaraswamy auction","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"February 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"NMDC had an iron ore auction from Kumaraswamy Mines, Karnataka on 31 Jan'26. According to sources, 116,000 t fines (Fe 60.53-61.31%) and 40,000 t lumps (10-40, Fe 63.15%) booked at INR 2,799-3,291\/t and INR 4,455\/t against the base price of INR 2,789-2,921\/t and INR 3,805\/t, respectively. Prices are on ex-mines\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-03T121940.351.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-03T121940.351.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-03T121940.351.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-03T121940.351.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-2026-02-03T121940.351.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67510,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67508\/revisions\/67510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}