https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=157.45.224.145Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-07T01:46:31ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Union_Carbide_India_Limited&diff=142967Union Carbide India Limited2021-07-21T05:38:27Z<p>157.45.224.145: /* Dangerous impacts of the Bhopal disaster */</p>
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<div>{{Short description|Indian chemical company}}<br />
{{Infobox company<br />
| name = Union Carbide India Limited<br />
| founded = {{start date|1934}}<br />
| fate = Renamed [[Eveready Industries India]] in 1994<br />
| hq_location_country = [[India]]<br />
| products = {{Unbulleted list|batteries|carbon products|welding equipment|plastics|industrial chemicals|pesticides|marine products}}<br />
| num_employees = 9,000 <small>(1994)</small><br />
}}<br />
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}<br />
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'''Union Carbide India Limited''' ('''UCIL''') was a [[Chemical industry|chemical company]] established in 1934, eventually expanding to employ 9,000 people working at 14 plants in five divisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bhopal.com/Chronology|title=History of UCIL|access-date=2008-05-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later<br />
|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/|access-date=6 January 2017|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=2 December 2014}}</ref> UCIL was 50.9% owned by [[Union Carbide|Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation]] (UCC) and 49.1% by Indian investors including the [[Government of India]] and government-controlled banks.<ref name="IB_2014">{{cite book |authors=S. Tamer Cavusgil, Gary Knight, John R. Riesenberger, Hussain G. Rammal, Elizabeth L. Rose |title=International Business |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KcSaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 |year=2014 |publisher=Pearson Australia |isbn=978-1-4860-1138-4 |page=141 }}</ref> UCIL produced [[Electric battery|batteries]], carbon products, welding equipment, [[plastic]]s, industrial chemicals, [[pesticide]]s and marine products.<br />
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In 1970 UCIL built a pesticide plant in [[Bhopal]], India, which gained worldwide attention as a result of the [[Bhopal disaster]]. On 3 December 1984, a release of [[methyl isocyanate]] (MIC) gas killed more than 3300 people.<ref>{{cite news |last= Fisher|first= Earleen|date= 15 February 1989|title= Union Carbide to Pay $470 Million For Bhopal Disaster|url= https://apnews.com/71df98dd509b0574136fa3f0f54a7401|work= [[Associated Press]]|access-date= 16 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date= 31 December 1984|title= Bhopal gas leak worst industrial disaster in history, 2,500 people die, injures thousands|url= https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19841231-bhopal-gas-leak-worst-industrial-disaster-in-history-2500-people-die-injures-thousands-803517-1984-12-31|work= [[India Today]]|access-date= 16 January 2020}}</ref> At the time of the disaster, UCIL was ranked twenty-first in size among companies operating in India. It had revenues of [[Indian rupee|Rs]] 2 billion (then equivalent to [[United States dollar|US$]]170 million).<br />
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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 ($90 million) were placed in a trust to fund a hospital in Bhopal to care for victims of the tragedy.<br />
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==Dangerous impacts of the Bhopal disaster==<br />
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2018}}<br />
The Bhopal gas tragedy happened between 2 December 1984 – 3 December 1984 where at least 3,787 lost their life(over 16,000 were claimed) due to the gas leak incident. 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.<ref>{{cite news |title= Union Carbide to Pay India Gas Victims $470 Million : Activists Denounce Settlement|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-14-mn-2325-story.html|work= [[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date= 16 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Withnall|first= Adam|date= 14 February 2019|title= Bhopal gas leak: 30 years later and after nearly 600,000 were poisoned, victims still wait for justice|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bhopal-gas-leak-anniversary-poison-deaths-compensation-union-carbide-dow-chemical-a8780126.html|work= [[The Independent]]}}</ref><br />
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UCIL maintained a low profile in the post-Bhopal period. The chairman, Keshub Mahindra, and the Bhopal factory manager, J. Mukund, moved on to new positions. Most of the Bhopal plant managers left the company after the plant closed. UCIL closed the pesticide plant and reduced the Research and Development Center in Bhopal to a skeleton staff.<br />
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Following the tragedy, the Government of India took control of the property. In 1994, Union Carbide sold its shares in UCIL to McLeod Russell. UCIL was subsequently renamed [[Eveready Industries]] India Ltd. (EIIL). As part of this transaction, EIIL became the property leaser and assumed responsibility for the site environmental cleanup. In 1998, the Madhya Pradesh State Government, which owned and had been leasing the property to EIIL, cancelled the lease, took over the facility and assumed all accountability for the site, including the completion of any remediation.<br />
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On 14 January 1987, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals]] in [[Manhattan]] upheld a decision by the [[United States District Court|U.S. District Court]] to send the legal case against UCC to India. It ruled UCIL was a separate and independent legal entity managed and staffed by Indian citizens.<br />
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In June 2010, seven former employees of UCIL, all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were convicted of causing death by negligence and each sentenced to two years' imprisonment and fined Rs.1 [[lakh]] (US$2,124 at the then-current [[exchange rate]]). All were released on bail shortly after the verdict. The names of those convicted are: Keshub Mahindra, former non-executive chairman of Union Carbide India Limited; V. P. Gokhale, managing director; Kishore Kamdar, vice-president; J. Mukund, works manager; S. P. Chowdhury, production manager; K. V. Shetty, plant superintendent; and S. I. Qureshi, production assistant.<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://www.bhopal.net/ International Campaign For Justice For The Victims Of The Bhopal Disaster]<br />
* [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research|CSIR]] Report on Bhopal Disaster, December 1985. [https://bhopalgasdisaster.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/csir-report-on-scientific-studies-december-1985.pdf]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:Chemical companies of India]]<br />
[[Category:Bhopal disaster]]</div>157.45.224.145