Profile
Tata Steel is India’s largest integrated private sector steel company. Established in 1907, its steel plant at Jamshedpur produces four million tonnes of hot and cold rolled flat and long products.
The company is backward integrated with owned iron ore mines and collieries. With its competitive advantage in raw materials, efficient operations and the benefits of a recently-completed $2.3 billion programme of modernisation, Tata Steel is among the lowest cost steel producers in the world.
The steel major has won the Prime Minister’s Trophy four times. This award is instituted by the Indian ministry of steel and awarded to the country’s best integrated steel plant. In 2000, it became the first Tata company to win the JRD Tata QV award, given to the company with ‘world class’ operations under the Group’s Tata Business Excellence Model.
Areas of business
Apart from the main steel division, Tata Steel’s operations are grouped under strategic profit centres like tubes, growth shop (for its steel plant and material handling equipment), bearings, ferro alloys and minerals, rings, agrico and wires.
Tata Steel’s products include hot and cold rolled coils and sheets, tubes, wire rods, construction bars, structurals, forging quality steel, rings and bearings. In an attempt to ‘decommoditise’ steel, the company has recently introduced brands like Tata Steelium (India’s first branded cold rolled steel), Tata Shaktee (galvanised corrugated sheets), Tata Tiscon (re-rolled bars), Tata pipes, Tata bearings, Tata Wiron (galvanised wire products) and Tata Agrico (hand tools and implements).
Tata Steel is also exploring opportunities in the ferro-chrome and titanium businesses.
Environment management
Jamshedpur was India’s first planned industrial township. In more recent times, Tata Steel has received ISO 14000 certification for environment management for most of its works, plants, mines and collieries.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Tata Steel is one of the few Indian companies to be invited to join the UN-sponsored Global Compact. It has also been conferred the prestigious Global Business Coalition Award (GBC) for Business Excellence in the Community in view of its outstanding work in the field of HIV / AIDS awareness.