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In the 1990s, Tata Steel ran a television ad campaign that showcased its corporate philanthropy projects, without a single mention of its primary business, but signed off with the line: “We also make steel.”
In Jamshedpur, the city that the Tatas built, so overwhelmingly omnipresent is Tata Steel’s influence today that one needs constant reminding that India’s most reputed industrial group isn’t primarily into civic administration — and that, yes, it also makes steel.
Tata Steel runs almost all of the Steel City’s institutions: the zoo, a sports stadium, the local power utility, golf courses, academies for football, archery, athletics… you name it.
Click here to see Tata Steel's journey
The township, spread over 64 sq km, is remarkably well-run by Indian standards, with broad avenues, green parks, reliable power — and water so fresh you can drink straight off the tap!
That reality owes to Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of Tata Steel, who envisioned not just an iron and steel company, but also a prosperous, happy township around it.
In a letter to his son, Sir Dorabji Tata, in 1902, Jamsetji wrote: “Be sure to lay wide streets with shady trees… 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, Mohameddan mosques and Christian churches.”
Today, Jamshedpur is a pulsating embodiment of that vision.
“The relationship between Tata Steel and Jamshedpur is exemplary,” says Ronald D’Costa, owner of Jamshedpur’s oldest hotel, Hotel Boulevard. “City folks identify themselves with the company, whether or not they work there.”
The Tatas took on the challenge of building both the plant and the city.
In 1907, Sakchi, a village in the jungle, was chosen as the project site; it was subsequently subsumed into Jamshedpur. From using bullock carts to carry materials, to staving off thieves, the Tatas went about their mission methodically.
Apart from the steel plant, they constructed homes for workers. The first school came up in 1915.
The Tata Main Hospital came up earlier, in 1908, four years before the steel plant began production! Today it is a modern facility with 914 beds.
The latest addition is a ₹100 crore, 11-km highway — called the Western Corridor — that connects Jamshedpur to Kolkata and Mumbai and does a good job of decongesting the city. And, yes, there’s also the steel plant!
Employee connect Among the 35,000 Tata Steel employees (nearly half of whom are in Jamshedpur) the goodwill, even reverence, that Jamsetji enjoys is striking. His busts, of which there are plenty in the city, are garlanded with fresh flowers daily. On March 3, his birthday, thousands march through the streets of Jamshedpur.
It is not uncommon to find a Tata ‘lifer’ whose father worked for the company, whose spouse works there, and whose ward has now joined the group. “Being with the Tatas is a way of life,” adds Merlyn Anklesaria, a Tata lifer.
Shikhar Sen, a third-generation employee at the Jamshedpur plant, sums up this ‘brand loyalty’. “I never thought of joining any organisation other than Tata Steel. It’s like my family and Tata Steel is in my DNA,” he says.
Given such levels of employee connect, it’s no wonder that Tata Steel hasn’t seen a day of strike since 1928.
Abhishek Law recently in Jamshedpur
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