Indian state asks Coca-Cola to pay $47 million compensation

Coca-Cola has been asked to pay $47 million in compensation for alleged environmental damage caused at a bottling plant in southern Indian. The plant, one of its largest in India, was forced to close in 2005 after activists and residents protested. The company insists the charges against it are unfounded. But the state of Kerala's government has accepted the findings of an investigation into the allegations about the Palakkad district plant. It says Coca-Cola must pay up for the damage it has allegedly caused. The company is accused of depleting the groundwater in the area, as well as damaging farmland and the local environment, by dumping waste between the years 1999 and 2004. A committee established by Kerala's government said in a statement that they have found "compelling evidence to conclude that the [plant] has caused serious depletion of the water resources of Plachimada, and has severely contaminated the water and soil."