Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company regarding the 
allegations that have been made against the Coca-Cola plant in Kerala, India.  We 
appreciate the opportunity to communicate with you on this issue.

As you may know, Coca-Cola India's bottling plant in Kerala, India, has 
been the target of a handful of extremist protesters, alleging the 
company is misusing local water resources.  These allegations are false.  
Neighboring communities, tribal leaders, non-government organizations 
(NGOs), environmental scientists and government officials have repeatedly 
rejected the extremists' allegations as totally groundless.

Here are the facts:
Since the Kerala plant was built in 2000, Coca-Cola India has complied 
and continues to comply with all Federal and State laws and regulations 
in India.  We respect and follow local laws.

In October 2002, Dr. R.N. Athvale, Emeritus scientist at the National 
Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India, stated in his 
report: "There is no field evidence of overexploitation of the groundwater 
reserves in the plant area."  He added that any aquifer depletion cannot 
be attributed to the water extraction in the plant area.  A report from 
the local Palakkad District Environmental Protection Council and 
Guidance Society in June 2002 concluded: "We declare that there is no 
environment harassment to the public by the factory at any level."

In the past two years, annual rainfall in Kerala decreased by about 60 
percent.

The bottler has installed an advanced rainfall harvesting technology to 
help recharge the area's groundwater reserves.  We've joined with NGOs, 
tribal leaders and government officials to share the technology and 
equipment with neighboring villages.  To supplement existing water 
sources, we also dug a bore well for the neighboring village, which we 
continue to supply with two tankers of fresh water daily.  The water from the 
factory's seven standard-depth bore wells that is not used in making 
products is put to secondary applications or recycled back into the 
ground, using Government-compliant irrigation techniques.

The technology our wastewater treatment plant uses is among the most 
advanced in the world.  The technologies are also equivalent to most 
Coca-Cola bottling plants in the United States and Europe.  Further, our 
effluents comply with standards and norms set by the Kerala State 
Pollution Control Board.  We constantly monitor the quality of the effluents 
to prevent pollution.

The latest detailed investigation just released by the Kerala State 
Groundwater Department has rejected the allegation that one of the reasons 
for water shortage in the area is 'overexploitation' by the plant and 
instead points to "poor rainfall during the last few years" as "an 
important reason for the low water level in the open wells in the area."

Coca-Cola India shares the aspirations of the people of Kerala to spur 
economic growth and create more local jobs.  Since investing in Kerala 
in 2000, the local communities have welcomed our business as a good 
corporate neighbor.  We built the plant at the invitation of the Kerala 
State Government and today the plant directly employs 141 people and 300 
contractors -- who are drawn primarily from neighboring communities.  
It is estimated for every direct job in our business, 10 indirect jobs 
are created as a result of inputs, goods and services that we buy 
primarily from local businesses.  In addition, nearly 24,000 self-employed 
people in the state are retailers of our products.

As always, we appreciate the opportunity to keep an open dialogue with 
you and appreciate that you were mindful that these are allegations 
that have been made against this Coca-Cola plant, not statements of fact.  
Please feel free to contact us if we may be of assistance or may 
provide additional information in the future.

Yoko
Industry & Consumer Affairs
The Coca-Cola Company