(Reuters) -Norway’s central bank said on Wednesday that its executive board has decided to exclude three companies from its government pension fund over ethical concerns.
Norges Bank, which manages the sovereign wealth fund, said in a statement it has decided to exclude India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, L3Harris Technologies and China’s Weichai Power.
Norges said it decided to exclude Adani Ports due to “unacceptable risk that the company contributes to serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict.”
The company, which is part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, was on the central banks’ watchlist for possible exclusion from investment since March 2022.
Transportation equipment maker Weichai Power is also being excluded from the fund over concerns that the Chinese company contributes to sales of weapons to states in armed conflicts, where “weapons are used in ways that constitute breaches of the international rules,” the bank said.
U.S. defense contractor L3Harris is also being excluded from the fund due to its development and production of components to nuclear weapons, the bank said.
Adani Ports, Weichai Power, and L3Harris did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the exclusions.
The statement did not mention the fund’s stake in the three companies.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in BengaluruEditing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
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