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MATERIAL ISSUES

Focussing on issues that matter

Tata Steel’s strategic planning process incorporates the economic, environmental, social, and governance material issues relevant for -the long-term growth and financial success of the Company.

The material issues are taken into consideration while defining and executing our strategic objectives. While the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) related material issues have been arrived at through an exclusive and extensive stakeholder engagement process, the economic material issues have been revisited through various stakeholder engagement processes and business reviews by the senior leadership.

Addressing ‘Focus’ issues

‘Focus’ issues are incorporated in the strategy and planning process. These issues are reviewed monthly by the issue owners and quarterly by the senior management, and reported in the Integrated Report. The material issues related to all the capitals are tracked and reported to the senior management on a quarterly basis. Exceptions on any of the parameters are reported on an interim basis. Among the material issues, we target to achieve specific carbon emission of <2 tCO2/tcs, 100% waste utilisation, zero effluent discharge and doubling of our CSR reach by 2025 as part of this strategy.

HOW WE IDENTIFIED MATERIAL ESG ISSUES

Tata Steel conducted a pan-India exercise to identify the ESG issues that are material to value creation, by engaging with close to hundred stakeholders viz. customers, investors, suppliers, shipping and logistics partners, media, industry associations, government and regulatory bodies, employees including contract employees and union leaders, and community representatives. The findings were then classified into the ‘Focus’ (high), ‘Track’ (medium) and ‘Discuss’ (low) categories.

ESG material issues

HOW WE ARE ADDRESSING MATERIAL ISSUES

Economic      
Strategic Objectives
  • SO1
  • SO2


  • SO3
Capitals Impacted

Material issue      

Business growth

Long-term profitability

Product quality, price offerings and delivery

Key actions  

Focus on organic and inorganic growth

New materials business (Fibre Reinforced Polymer and Graphene)

Service and Solutions business

Foraying into newer segments such as oil & gas, lifting and excavation

Increase sales of downstream products

Maintain leadership in chosen segments

Enhance raw material security

Operational efficiency enhancement

Shikhar25 cost management initiatives

Product and process innovation

Value engineering

Customer service teams and delivery centres

SO1 - Industry leadership in steel

SO2 - Consolidate position as a global cost leader

SO3 - Insulate revenues from steel cyclicality

SO4 - Industry leadership in CSR and SHE

Environmental      
Strategic Objectives
  • SO2
  • SO4
Capitals Impacted
Material issue      
E1

Renewable and clean energy

E2

Waste management

E3

Water consumption and
effluent discharge

E4

Energy efficiency

E5

Air pollution

E6

Supply chain sustainability

E7

CO2 emission

E8

Biodiversity

E9

Circular economy

Key actions  

Focus initiatives on harnessing clean and renewable energy and adopting waste heat recovery technology

Recovery and reuse of metal from steelmaking slag

Nearly 100% utilisation of LD slag

Advocacy with various government and industry bodies to build scrap utilisation networks

Striving towards future readiness by investing in sewage treatment plants and creating new rain water harvesting structures

Focus on energy efficiency through process optimisation initiatives such as waste heat recovery systems and by-product gas utilisation

Investment in air pollution control equipment to reduce dust emission intensity

Embedding sustainability across the supply chain

Piloting Carbon Capture and Use (CCU) at Jamshedpur works and at the Ferro-Chrome plant, and assessing renewable energy potential across all locations in India

Reclamation of mining activities

Adoption of circular economy concepts to maximise the utilisation of our by-products

Social      
Strategic Objectives
  • SO4
Capitals Impacted
       
S1

Occupational health & safety

S2

Labour relations

S3

Drinking water

S4

Local sourcing of labour

S5

Talent retention

   

Leadership capability development for safety at all levels to achieve zero harm

Identification and mitigation of hazards and risks

Reduction in safety incidents on road and rail to sustain zero fatalities inside plant premises

Excellence in Process Safety Management (PSM)

Establishment of industrial hygiene and improvement in occupational health

Robust grievance mechanism

Implementation of the Human Rights Policy, principles of SA8000, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and ILO convention

Installation and repair of drinking water facilities

Implementation of Affirmative Action Plan

Development of workforce capability through various programmes and fostering a diverse workforce through our MOSAIC framework

Governance      
Strategic Objectives
  • SO1
  • SO3


  • SO4
Capitals Impacted

       
G1

Going beyond compliance
and setting trends for future
regulations

G2

Greater stakeholder engagement

G3

Greater sustainability disclosures

G4

Technology, product and
process innovation

G5

Technical knowledge transfer
and capacity building for relevant
partners

G6

Responsible advocacy for the steel
and mining sector

   

Collaborations with technical institutes and technology start-ups

Enhancement of specialised channels such as public meetings, vendor-focussed committees, Speak UP toll-free number, platforms such as conference and construction conclave, zonal and similar events

Consistent improvement of our disclosures through GRI, , worldsteel and BRR frameworks

Process innovation such as High Gradient Magnetic Separator (HGMS) for iron ore slime beneficiation

Product innovation such as Pravesh Vista steel windows and graphene-doped plastic products

Conduct of Vendor Capacity Development (VCAP) programmes

Engaging with the industry bodies and peer networks in sharing best practices, training, research and ideas that enhance the overall performance of the industry

Financial Capital

Intellectual Capital

Natural Capital

Manufactured Capital

Human Capital

Social & Relationship Capital