The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the body appointed by India’s Supreme Court on all matters related to mining, has recommended the lifting of all restrictions on exports of iron ore pellets from the southern Indian state of Karnataka, a government official said on Friday, July 27.
The official said that the CEC has recommended the lifting of all iron ore pellet exports to tackle the near glut of the raw material in Karnataka and also increase the utilization of idle pelletization capacity of plants located in the region.
The CEC’s recommendations will be placed before the Supreme Court for final approval as the court has been monitoring all iron ore mining operations since it banned all mining and exports from Karnataka after ruling against illegal mining.
The government official said that the CEC in its recommendations observed that, while nine iron ore pelletization plants in Karnataka had an installed capacity of around 10.10 million mt per year, only 1.4 million mt went into captive consumption and the balance for commercial domestic sale.
Last year, iron ore mines in Karnataka offered a total volume of 44 million mt (production during the year plus carryover stocks) but sales were only 30 million mt during the year, indicating that surplus raw material was available for value addition to pellets and exports without jeopardizing supplies to local consumers, the official added.
