A multinational corporation or MNC is a large joint stock company or a firm that has operations and assets in at least one foreign country other than its home country. They are characterized by having multi product portfolio, worldwide market, selling billions of worth goods & services, large consumer base, worldwide competitors, global perspective, large R&D base, employing thousands of workers globally, with only one motive i.e. Profit making. According to recent statistics the combined sales of top 200 MNC’s were around 28% of world’s GDP. Least developing country, or LDC’s, symbolise the weakest section of the international economic community comprising of almost 12% of world population, about 880 million people, accounting for only 2% world GDP & 1% global trade (UN-OHRLLS). These countries are lacking in infrastructure, have poor economy & inadequate industrial base, large population below poverty line. As per the 2012 UN list, there are 48 least developed countries in the world with countries like Africa, Latin America being a part of the list. A multinational companies’ primary motive is to reap profits by employing cheaper, efficient and reliable resources, for which LDC’s or developing economies are ideal as they are economically weak, burdened by unemployment, debt and structural instability. To woo these investors and bring in FDI, the governments lower trade restrictions and give a free reign to the country’s resources to boost their weak economy.

While MNC’S are perceived as a positive force that bring employment, economic growth, better technology & living standards in the developing economies, but their greed for profit maximisation has led them to exploit the natural resources, human resource, and environment of these developing countries.

Coke and its Impact on India’s Economy, Natural resource (water), Environment

India’s Reliance on Coke: The worldwide markets in 1990’s for soft drinks industry was shrinking and Coca Cola faced a shrinking market in the US and EU as the western consumer got more health conscious and started banning such products. The market focus shifted to India as it was a developing market with a large middle class population base. Coke returned back to India in 1993 and invested more than 1 billion US$ in 10 years’ time making it the country’s top international investor. With a record growth of “16% sales volume in India in 2012, 59 bottling operations, 21 contract packers manufacturers, 700,000 retail outlets”, (“The Coca-Cola Company) Coke has created millions of jobs through its contract manufacturing, procurement, supply, and distribution networks. The company plans to “invest another $5 billion” to double its revenue and volume by 2020 making it one of the most promising MNC to boost the Indian economy. (“The Coca-Cola Company)

Access to natural Resources: Coca Cola, the American multinational invested in India to reap heavy profits and gets access to cheap ground water, low extraction and labour cost. Coca-Cola extracts about 2.5 million litres of water/day, equivalent to meet the basic needs of 100,000 residents every day (India Resource Centre).The use of ground water for bottling Coke and its products in various regions in India has led to drought leading to inability of farmers to continue farming. Indians face extreme water shortages due to unequal distribution of water and also because it’s a highly agrarian economy where 70% people rely on agriculture (Srivastava, 2008). Coke’s plant in Kala Dera, Rajasthan, has caused severe water shortages resulting in depletion of groundwater levels. TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute), India’s largest NGO, in its report in 2008 said that in the peak summer months of its production, the plant accounted for using 8% of water extraction within 2 km radius of the plant making it non-sustainable. Another bottling plant in Kerala, Palakkad,