Steel and mining stocks such as SAIL, NMDC, MOIL and Coal India were trading lower on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of states collecting past dues on royalties on mining lands.

What Happened: The Supreme Court held the verdict it had made on July 25 allowing states can tax mineral rights and mineral lands from mining companies.

The judgement will apply retrospectively, letting states charge tax for transactions dating back to April 1, 2005. However, the states cannot charge a penalty or interest on the arrears, the apex court said.

In the judgement, SC said the time for tax payments can be staggered over 12 years, starting from April 1, 2026.

In July, a nine-judge bench of the apex court made the judgement that states have the legislative power to tax mineral rights and the Parliament cannot make a rule on the subject.

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The Central government had told the top court during the hearing that if the verdict is applied retrospectively, the tax demand for various companies will be several times over their net worth.

Price Action: Shares of various mining and steel stocks were down after the verdict came.

Shares of SAIL were down 1.30% at ₹126.47.

Shares of Tata Steel were down 2.44% at ₹145.25.

Shares of JSW Steel were down 1.42% at ₹895.

Shares of NMDC were down 3.98% at ₹215.53.

Shares of Coal India were down 2.47% at ₹508.85.

Shares of MOIL were down 2.54% at ₹413.

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