Union Carbide India Limited

Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) was a chemical company founded in 1934. UCIL employed 9,000 people. UCIL was 50.9% owned by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation (UCC) located in the United States and 49.1% by Indian investors including the Government of India and government-controlled banks. UCIL produced batteries, carbon products, welding equipment, plastics, industrial chemicals, pesticides and marine products. A UCIL facility located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh was responsible for manufacturing various chemical products this primarily included pesticides. In 1984, a gas leak occurred at the UCIL plant in Bhopal, killing thousands of people, and harming victims by causing chronic illness. At the time of the disaster, UCIL was ranked twenty-first in size among companies operating in India. It had revenues of ₹2 billion (then equivalent to US$170 million).

The formation of the pesticides and herbicides that were produced by Union Carbide was from carbaryl which is used as a base chemical in order to react with methyl isocyanate and alpha naphthol. In 1970, there was an issue with the methyl isocyanate unit being built (MIC) in Bhopal. The issue was due to the location of the unit which was nearby a railroad station and a heavily populated area.

Bhopal disaster

A gas leak happened between the nights of December 2 and 3, 1984 in Bhopal. This gas leak killed thousands of people. Some survivors developed cancer and other health related impairments.

A case was filed against the company which consisted of multiple players and negotiations. The Indian government also filed a lawsuit right after the parentis-partial act passed. This act gave the victims of this tragedy representation. This led the mobilization of various victims which started the development of different activist organizations. Bhopal registered a claim of $10 billion, based on United States injustice claim standards. The Indian government claim of $3.3 billion was settled for $470 million. In 1994, UCC sold its entire stake in UCIL to Mcleod Russel India Limited of Calcutta, which renamed the company Eveready Industries India Limited. The proceeds from the UCIL sale (US$90 million) were placed in a trust to fund a hospital in Bhopal to care for victims of the tragedy.

In February 1989, the Supreme Court of India directed UCC and UCIL to pay $470 million to settle all claims arising from the tragedy. The government, UCC and UCIL agreed with the ruling, and the two companies paid the settlement on 24 February.

References

External links

• International Campaign For Justice For The Victims Of The Bhopal Disaster
• CSIR Report on Bhopal Disaster, December 1985. [1]

1. Bhopal disaster
2. Union Carbide
3. Eveready Industries India
4. The Railway Men
5. Warren Anderson (American businessman)
6. UCIL
7. Methyl isocyanate
8. Keshub Mahindra
9. History of Madhya Pradesh
10. Environmental racism
11. Brand
12. V. V. Chari
13. List of industrial disasters
14. Indecision (band)
15. Lincare Holdings
16. Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain
17. Nuclear power in India
18. 1984 in the environment
19. Mahindra Group
20. Absolute liability