The Hindu Business Line : JUSCO - Blazing new trails

Pandit Nehru seen with J.R.D. Tata and Zakir Hussain, the then Governor of Bihar (left), after he unveiled the 12-foot high bronze statue of Jamsetji Tata at the opening of the Jubilee Park on March 1, 1958. The statue dominates the magnificent park built by the steel company at a cost of Rs. 15 lakh. The park was presented to the citizens of Jamshedpur to commemorate the jubilee.

Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens. Reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammadan mosques and Christian churches".

Those were the contents of a letter written by the founder of Tata Steel, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, to his son, Dorabji Tata, in the year 1902. Those words did speak of the founder's eagerness to cater to the needs and aspirations of the employees and workers of the company. Indeed, Jamshedpur was born much before it was built. And, the philosophy of 1902 is alive and vibrant even today. UN recognition

Few are perhaps aware that Jamshedpur has the distinction of being the only city in South East Asia to have been selected by the United Nations to participate in the Global Compact Cities Pilot Programme. Fewer are aware that it is the first and only city in India where civic amenities and allied services are entirely managed by a corporate entity.

And that corporate entity is the Jamshedpur Utilities & Services Company Ltd (JUSCO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel.

Since it was formed in 2004, JUSCO - which is the erstwhile Town Division of Tata Steel - has not only demonstrated its expertise in providing civic amenities and allied services to the people in and around Jamshedpur, the company has also extended its footprint to areas beyond Jamshedpur and its periphery. The history

Says Mr Sanjiv Paul, Managing Director of JUSCO: "Earlier, the Town Division was a cost centre of Tata Steel that was providing services to the city of Jamshedpur as part of the company's corporate social responsibility. Since 2004, JUSCO is a business entity in its own right and the company provides its services to Tata Steel, among others".

In fact, historically, the land in Jamshedpur belonged to Tata Steel. Subsequent to legislation in the mid-fifties, the land was leased by the Government of Bihar, and then the Government of Jharkhand, to Tata Steel, with an obligation on the latter to continue to provide services to the city of Jamshedpur.

Today, around seven lakh people reside in the "command area", it has been stated. This includes 20,000 employees of Tata Steel and their families. As such, a vast majority of the people who avail themselves of the services of JUSCO are those who live in Jamshedpur but are not necessarily employees of the steel company. Hiving off

Till 2003, the Town Division of Tata Steel was providing civic amenities and allied services to the city of Jamshedpur.

Tata Steel was incurring a cost of around Rs 100 crore annually in doing so. Senior company executives were managing the steel business as well as the Town Division. It was then decided that senior company executives should be left to concentrate on the core steel business and hive off the Town Division into a separate company, which would not only continue to provide the services provided by the Town Division but also look at expanding beyond Jamshedpur.

It was felt that, among other things, this would motivate JUSCO employees to excel in their respective jobs.

The formation of JUSCO was also aimed at bringing among its staff a sense of professionalism that exists in a business entity as different from that in a cost centre. "The Town Division has built, nurtured and taken the civic services and allied infrastructure in the city up to a high level over the last nine decades where JUSCO could be formed.

JUSCO is accelerating the movement forward", says Mr Paul, adding that JUSCO's customer base has grown beyond that of the erstwhile Town Division's command area and new capacities have since been created. Activities

A view of the Jubilee Park in Jamshedpur

JUSCO's service offerings are spread across different areas such as water & waste water management, planning, engineering & construction, power distribution, municipal solid waste management, public health, facility management, horticulture services and fleet management & hospitality services.

The company runs nine schools, one college and maintains 17 large and small parks in the steel city, including the 110-acre Jubilee Park, which was Tata Steel's gift to the people of Jamshedpur 50 years ago.

Besides, within Jamshedpur city, JUSCO maintains 524 km of roads, 487 km of sewer lines and water mains spanning 490 km in length.

It distributes 400 MW of power every day. This includes the 250 MW of power that is consumed by the steel plant daily.

The company has bagged other projects as well. These include the Rs 100-crore power distribution project for nearby Saraikela Kharsawa district and the Rs 60-crore project - on BOOT basis -- for management of water and waste water in Sector V of the Salt Lake Electronics Complex in Kolkata. JUSCO has also bagged a Rs 53-crore piling & civil work project at Tata Bluescope and a Rs 19-crore project for augmentation of water supply at Muzaffarpur. SEZ proposal

The company has also firmed up plans to set up a Special Economic Zone for auto ancillaries spread over 92 acres in nearby Adityapur at an estimated investment of Rs 30 crore. Saraikela Kharsawa will be the first district in the country where two power distribution agencies will operate in the same area and consumers will be able to select their preferred power supplier.

From a turnover of Rs 107 crore in 2004-05, JUSCO clocked revenue of Rs 219 crore in 2006-07.

The turnover target for the current fiscal has been pegged at Rs 300 crore even as the company is confident of touching the Rs 1,000-crore turnover mark within the next few years, according to Mr Paul. The company's growth in the years ahead would be propelled by its water & waste water management, construction and power distribution businesses, Mr Paul informed.

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