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Centenary Celebrations : Jamshedpur : 22 April 2008.
Welcome Address : B Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel
The Hon'ble
Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Governor of Jharkhand. His Excellency Syed Sibtey
Razi,
Hon'ble Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Shri Madhu Koda,
Hon'ble Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilizers and Steel,
Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Hon'ble Union Minister of State for
Food Processing Industries, Shri Subodh Kant Sahay,
Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Steel, Shri Jitin
Prasada,
Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Dr
Rameshwar Oraon,
Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Communications, Shri
Jyotiraditya Scindia,
President of the Tata Workers Union, Shri Raghunath Pandey,
Director of Tata Sons, Dr Jamshed Irani,
Distinguished guests, my colleagues in Tata Steel, citizens
of Jamshedpur, ladies and gentlemen :
On behalf of Mr Ratan Tata, our Chairman,
who has not been able to travel to Jamshedpur due to his
being indisposed, and on behalf of all the employees of Tata
Steel, it is my proud privilege and pleasure to welcome you
all to this function to celebrate the Centenary of Tata
Steel. The citizens of Jamshedpur and the people of Tata
Steel are privileged to have the hon'ble Prime Minister of
India, Dr Manmohan Singh as the Chief Guest on this historic
occasion in the city where the seeds of industrialisation of
India were sown a hundred years ago. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
was here on our 50th year. Shrimati Indira Gandhi was here
on our 75th year. It is an honour for all of us, Sir, the
hon'ble Prime Minister of India, that you are with us on
this historic day.
Tata Steel is as much a state of mind as
it is a steel company and an industrial corporation. It is
the state of mind of Tata Steel that makes Tata Steel what
it is today :
- A member of the Tata Group that is
owned two thirds by public philanthropic trusts, something
unique in a world that increasingly applauds, private
ownership and creation of wealth in individual's hands.
- Which believes that society is not just
another stakeholder in the business but the prime purpose of
it and has practiced 'inclusive growth' from long before the
concept was adopted by the Corporate World.
- A work culture and ethics that is
welcomed in all parts of the world.
- A Company that has had eighty years of
uninterrupted industrial peace created by employees with a
special spirit to work together, adapt themselves to changes
and to improve their performance continuously.
Tata Steel in indeed an industrial
Corporation with a difference.
We are living in unprecended times for
the global steel industry. Prices of everything from raw
materials to energy inputs to ocean freights and
consequently of steel products have recently surged to
unprecedented highs due to rapid steel demand growth from
the developing economies, coupled with inadequate raw
material availability. In a scenario like this, apart from
exercising self-restraint on steel prices amidst raising
input costs, which SAIL and Tata Steel are practicing,
albeit with self imposed difficulties, the only sure way to
contain steel prices is to urgently create new steel
capacities in India matching or even exceeding the fast pace
of demand growth unleashed by our liberalised economy.
Ever since the economic liberalisation,
fathered by our hon'ble Prime Minister in 1991, Tata Steel
has been expanding its capacity. In just 3 months from now,
our Jamshedpur Works will be 7 million tonnes and by mid
2010, we will be 10 million tonnes in Jamshedpur, making it
the largest capacity in a single location in India. We have
planned three Greenfield projects : a 6 million tonne plant
in Orissa, another 6 million tonne plant in Chattisgarh and
a 12 million tonne plant in Jharkhand. In Orissa, after 3
years of struggle to acquire land and after a satisfactory
rehabilitation and resettlement of people we are about to
start construction of the steel plant. We are still awaiting
allotment of iron ore for this plant. In Chattisgarh, land
acquisition is just about to begin after two years of our
being there. In Jharkhand, we await the R&R Policy to begin
our land acquisition process and await allotment of iron ore
leases for our new plant as well as the expanded Jamshedpur
plant. The total capital outlay on these three Greenfield
projects is Rs.80,000 cores and together with the expanded
Jamshedpur works, we will have a capacity of 35 million
tonnes in India by 2015 at a total investment of Rs.100,000
crores. Our Greenfield projects can be considerably speeded
up if we are able to acquire land quickly and peacefully and
we are given captive leases of iron ore and coal.
The Indian economy, freed from its
shackles seventeen years ago has grown in strength and
robustness to consume increasing quantities of steel by
10-15% year on year. For this robust growth rate to be
converted into wealth for our nation and for our people, we
need to vastly increase the speed with which new steel
capacity is getting created in India.
On behalf of Tata Steel, I would like to
assure the hon'ble Prime Minister that with Government's
support on easing the land acquisition process and granting
captive iron ore and coal mines, we would speed up our
projects. This is not only true for Tata Steel but for the
entire Indian Steel Industry. The current global situation
of raw materials is such that two countries and 3 or 4
mining Companies in the world control most of the iron ore
and coal and the global steel industry is at the mercy of
these Companies. It is in this context that the steel
industry of India needs to have captive raw materials to
make it competitive and serve the interests of this Nation.
Tata Steel has had a sustainable growth
for a hundred years often through difficult and challenging
times - always playing its part in helping to build this
Nation, always an integral part of our society. We will
continue to be so and irrespective of wherever we set foot
in the world, our prime goal is to continue to serve the
cause of India.
Once again, it is with great pleasure
that I welcome you all to this Centenary Celebrations of
Tata Steel and a very special welcome to our Chief Guest,
the hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh.
Thank you.
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