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The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India.
UCIL was established in 1934, when UCC became one of the first U.S. companies to invest in India. UCIL was a diversified manufacturing company, employing approximately 9,000 people and operating 14 plants in five divisions. Annual sales were nearly $200 million, and UCIL shares were publicly traded on the Calcutta Stock Exchange.
The Bhopal plant was designed and constructed in the late 1970's by UCIL, using Indian consultants and workers, and went on to be operated by an Indian plant management team. The plant was constructed on land leased to UCIL by the Indian state government of Madhya Pradesh.
The plant produced pesticides for use in India to help the country’s agricultural sector increase its productivity and contribute more significantly to meeting the food needs of one of the world's most heavily populated regions.
In 1994, UCC sold its entire stake in UCIL to MacLeod Russell (India) Limited, which renamed the company, Eveready Industries India, Limited (Eveready Industries). In 1998, the government of state of Madhya Pradesh took over the Bhopal site from Eveready Industries.
Site Clean Up
After the incident, UCIL began clean-up work at the site under the direction of Indian central and state government authorities. After the sale of UCIL stock in 1994, Eveready Industries continued clean-up work at the site until 1998. The state government of Madhya Pradesh took over the facility in 1998 and assumed all responsibility for completing any further remediation. What additional clean-up work, if any, has been undertaken since that time is unclear.
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