Source: news.bbc.co.uk
LONDON, ENGLAND, February 11, 2010: In a statement released on Friday, the Church of England said that it was withdrawing its investments from the Vedanta mineration company, in India, after several protests. The decision has been welcomed by campaigning groups including Survival International which has been lobbying the church to disinvest from Vedanta for more than a year. Survival International says that the bauxite mine will destroy a large part of the Niyamgiri Mountain in Orissa, damaging the lives of tribal Hindus, the Kondh tribes’ people who live in the area.
The Church of England has a US$4.1m stake in Vedanta, which runs an alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Orissa, and is planning a bauxite mine in the nearby Niyamgiri hills.