NEW DELHI, April 5 (Reuters) - India's top court lifted a ban on iron ore shipments from the southern state of Karnataka on Tuesday, lawyers in the court said.
Karnataka, which accounts for a quarter of India's iron ore exports, banned shipments of iron ore from 10 ports and stopped its transport to other ports for exports in July last year.
"The court ordered that after April 20 the state government order on the ban will be null and void," said Ankur Kulkarni, a lawyer for S. B. Minerals, one of the petitioners.
Karnataka had cited a drive against illegal mining and the need to preserve the raw material for local steelmakers for the introduction of the ban.
Exporters and miners from the state challenged the ban in Karnataka high court, but lost the case, following which they petitioned the Supreme Court in November. [ID:nSGE6BF06Y] [ID:nSGE70J04E]
India is the world's third largest exporter of iron ore with most of its approximately 100 million tonnes of the commodity landing in China, which has the world's largest steel industry.
India's iron ore exports fell 18.6 percent in February, as the ban on exports by Karnataka continued to cut sales. [ID:nL3E7EU0UD] (Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Jo Winterbottom)
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