The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL), a Federal Government-owned public sector company complied with Supreme Court orders and stopped mining ore in the environmentally sensitive Western Ghats. The company converts all the mined ore into pellets and exports 85% of it to China. It grosses Rs.18.5 billion a year with cash reserves of Rs.13 billion. Although the company was ordered by the SC on September 30, 2002 not to mine beyond September 30, 2005 the company has not given up hopes. It has sought extensions, appealed the decision, manufactured public opinion through sponsored environment surveys, black-balled NGOs opposing the mining, and even got a national paper to publish an investigative study in its favor. But with global prices of pellets plummeting by about 50% due to China's decision to regulate import of pellets, the financial outlook for continued mining coupled with debilitating impact on the environment too expensive for the company to continue its business. However, the company is determined to keep its pellet plant running sourcing raw material from other parts of Karnataka. They are also seeking license to mine ore in the Ramanadurg area which is already seeing illegal mining for ore. Even if license is granted now, it would take KIOCL about 4 years to mine that area. In the meanwhile, KIOCL is expecting to import ore to keep its pellet plant functional.