Coca Cola stops manufacturing in 3 Indian Plants

In Uncategorized
February 11, 2016

Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, the largest bottler of Coca-Cola India, has stopped production at its bottling plant at Kaladera near Jaipur (Rajasthan), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Brynihat (Meghalaya). Hindustan Coca-Cola is part of the company’s Bottling Investments Group (BIG) that packages, sells and distributes non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink beverages.

A study of some of Coca-Cola bottling plants in India by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in 2008 had recommended closure of the Kaladera plants because its operations “would continue to be one of the contributors to a worsening water situation and a source of stress to the communities around.” Campaigners against the Coca-Cola plant welcomed the move to stop production.

Rameshwar Kudi, a retired government official who led the local campaign to shut the Dera Jan Sangharsh Samiti plant, welcomed the plant closure but remained concerned about who will be held responsible for the loss of earnings for thousands of farmers in the area who were unable to farm successfully as the groundwater levels dropped sharply.

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Last year, the Tamil Nadu government cancelled land allotted to Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages at Perundurai in Erode district to set up its bottling facility.
Another Coca-Cola bottling plant, located about 150 km west of Perundurai in a village called Plachimada in Kerala, was closed by state government authorities in 2004 citing toxic pollution caused by the Coca-Cola bottling plant. The company currently faces legislation holding it liable for $47 million in damages as a result of its operations.
In August 2014, Coca-Cola was forced to abandon a fully built $25 million bottling plant in Mehdiganj in Uttar Pradesh because the government rejected its application as a result of community pressure.
In April 2014, another proposed Coca-Cola bottling plant—in Charba in Uttarkhand state—was rejected due to community opposition.

The company also faces significant opposition in various parts of India where it has located its bottling plant in water-stressed areas, and challenges to Coca-Cola’s bottling operations are expected to grow as water conditions deteriorate across the country.