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U.K. investor pulls out of
Vedanta
NEW DELHI: In a
blow to mining firm Vedanta, a fourth European investor has sold its
multi-million pound stake in the company, citing “serious concerns
about its [Vedanta’s] approach to human rights and the environment.”
The company has been slammed for its plan to mine the Niyamgiri
Hills of Orissa, home to the Kondh tribals, many of whom have
opposed the plan.
The decision of
the United Kingdom-based Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to sell a
£2.2 million stake (along with other investors who follow its
ethical policy) in Vedanta follows the Church of England’s decision
to sell its £2.1 million stake last week. The Norwegian government’s
pension fund had been the first high-profile withdrawal, selling its
$13 million stake in 2007, while the Martin Currie Investment sold
its £2.3 million stake last year.
“Morally
indefensible”
“We have heard
first-hand about Vedanta’s environmental and human rights abuses in
Orissa and believe that Vedanta is pushing industrialisation to the
detriment of the lives and lands of the local people. This behaviour
may be legal, but is morally indefensible,” said Susan Seymour,
chair of the investment committee at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Trust.
In New Delhi,
Kumti Majhi of the Kutia Kondh community welcomed the decision. “I
am glad they have listened to our problems. They [the Church’s
representatives] came and stayed in our hut and listened to us
also…Why doesn’t the government listen,” he asked. “The government
people only come and they go around in Vedanta’s helicopter, in
Vedanta’s cars, and then they go back and say Vedanta is doing good
things.”
Mr. Majhi was in
the capital to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office on
Thursday. “We urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to act now and take
a decision that will save Niyamgiri and the Kondh people from
destruction,” he said. The Kondh people consider Niyamgiri Hills to
be sacred and depend on them for food, livelihoods and cultural
identity, he added.
Responding to
the news of the stake sale, Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer of
Vedanta Alumnium, the Indian subsidiary of U.K.-listed Vedanta
Resources, said the British team which had come to investigate had
failed to get back to the company with their suggestions or
complaints.
24
February 2010
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