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Coca Cola

NEW: Coca-Cola has been named a “shameless and unethical company.” But why? ... The beverage giant abandons bottling plant after using too much water.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

NEW: Coca-Cola has been named a “shameless and unethical company.” But why? ... The beverage giant abandons bottling plant after using too much water. cocacola Image: anyjazz65 via Flickr Coca-Cola has been forced to abandon a $25 million newly built bottling plant in nothern India as the result of a sustained campaign against the company's plans. The $25 million plant - which was a significant expansion to its existing plant in Mehdiganj - had already been fully built but could not operate commercially as it did not have the required permits to operate from national groundwater regulatory agency, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) and statewide pollution regulatory agency, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB). The former authority rejected Coca-Cola's application back in July, and announced its decision before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) - India's green court – on August 25th. However, Coca-Cola notified the CGWA that it was withdrawing its application two days before the announcement. A two-year campaign aimed to make regulators aware that groundwater conditions in the Mehdiganj area have gone from 'safe' category, when Coca-Cola began operations in June 1999, to 'critical' in 2009 – and increasing groundwater allowance by five-fold would further deteriorate the conditions in the area. 'Coca-Cola is a shameless and unethical company that has consistently placed its pursuit of profits over the well-being of communities that live around its facilities. It is absolutely reprehensible for a globally recognized company like Coca-Cola to seek further groundwater allowances from an area that has become acutely water-stressed, and that too in large part due to Coca-Cola's mining of groundwater alone,' said campaign leader Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center. Coca-Cola has identified India as a major market for future profits. As part of its 2020 commitments, the company aimed to replenish more than 100% of the water it uses in its manufacturing operations in the country.