Indian companies should hit sustainability targets abroad, not just at home

Activist investors on the lookout for "greenwashing" have to be careful of the unintended consequences of their choices

India’s growth over the next few years is likely to be driven by the government’s big infrastructure push. The construction sector represents almost a 10th of the country’s economy. India is the second-largest producer of cement in the world.

It would seem an odd time, therefore, for a major cement company to abandon the giant country. Yet that’s apparently what Holcim AG of Switzerland, the world’s biggest producer of cement, is planning to do.

Nor would this be the only such exit to occur recently. Last September, Holcim sold its Brazil operations for $1 billion. Dublin-based CRH Plc sold its own Brazil