The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), headed by P. V. Jayakrishnan, on Tuesday denied any export of iron ore pellets at the current stage from Karnataka.

The Supreme Court-appointed CEC held discussions with Karnataka government officials besides lease-holders on according consent to resume mining operation in the state. The Committee discussed various issues during the meeting, including overlapping of mining leases in the state and implementation of Reclamation & Rehabilitation (R&R) Plans.

The meeting was convened after the Supreme Court's April 18th order that allowed reopening of all A and B categories of mines in the sate.

Basant Poddar, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, said that the CEC told miners that there was no scope at the time to allow export of iron ore pellets from mines in the state.

Speaking on the topic, Poddar said, "The survey map fixed by the Joint Survey Team of the CEC last year will be sacrosanct and there is no scope for any further dispute."

Until the export of iron ore was banned, the state exported nearly 20 million tonnes of the ore per annum. The ban on the export of iron ore from the state was imposed by former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa following allegations of corruption & environmental damage.