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The oil fund drops Indian company for fear of environmental damage

Oil FundOil.Photo: pixabay.com

Norges Bank excludes Indian Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd from the oil fund. The background is an assessment of the risk of serious environmental damage.

The company is excluded on the basis of a recommendation from the Council on Ethics.

 Bharat Heavy Electricals is an engineering and manufacturing company based in New Delhi, owned by the Indian government.

 The Ethics Council believes it is an unacceptable risk that the company will contribute to serious environmental damage by building a coal power plant south of Bangladesh.

 The area power plant is planned to be built is very close to Sundarbans. It is the world’s largest mangrove forest.
The Government Pension Fund Global (SPU), or the oil fund, has also set two companies for observation: PetroChina Co Ltd and Leonardo SpA. The reason is unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to or are responsible for gross corruption, it is stated in a press release.

 Furthermore, the Fund will monitor Eni SpA and Saipem SpA through the exercise of ownership. Also in this case, there is the risk of gross corruption.

 Eni SpA is already being investigated for corruption in Nigeria in 2011, it is stated in the Council of Ethics Council’s recommendation. Saipem SpA has been involved in corruption cases earlier, including in Algeria.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today