The LIC-ITC case: Taking action for responsible investments

Tata group has also come under pressure from civil society groups for its Dhamra Port in Odisha

The move by two Tata trustees of filing a suit that Life Insurance Company (LIC) disinvest from ITC, a cigarette-manufacturing firm, can be seen as part of a larger global trend, where investors are being pushed to step out of activities that are seen as debilitating to either public health or the environment. 

The largest such move has come in the name of climate change with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) demanding pension funds, sovereign funds and multilateral banks among others to disinvest from coal power projects in developing countries and elsewhere. 

Bowing to such pressures, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, one