SC gives Karnataka more time for iron ore ban reply

India’s top court on Thursday gave Karnataka state two more weeks to respond to a petition filed by iron ore mining companies challenging a ban on exports.

The reply will have to be filed by the middle of January, a two-member Supreme Court panel, headed by Justice R V Raveendran, said in an interim order. The ban would continue pending the reply, the order said.

The Karnataka High Court on November 19 had upheld the provincial government’s decision to halt iron ore shipments overseas. The ban would cut India’s exports of the steelmaking material by 38 per cent to 66 million tonnes this year, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries had estimated.

Sesa Goa Ltd., India’s largest iron ore exporter, MSPL Ltd. and other mining companies had appealed against the High Court order to the Supreme Court last month. Karnataka, which exported as much as 30 million tonnes of ore in the year ended March 31, on an average shipped about 2.5 million tonnes a month until July 26, when the ban was imposed.

Sesa Goa shares declined 2 per cent to Rs 293.90 at close in Mumbai. The benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 1 per cent.

India, the third-largest iron-ore exporter, should halt shipments overseas to ensure domestic steelmakers have adequate supplies, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said on October 29.