MATERIALITY

Unified focus on our priorities

Tata Steel’s material ESG priorities are identified through extensive stakeholder engagement and rigorous assessment to guide strategic decision-making and deliver sustainable, long-term value.

Tata Steel’s material ESG priorities are shaped through robust stakeholder engagement and systematic assessments. By conducting periodic materiality studies, the Company gains clear insights into stakeholder expectations, impacts, dependencies and opportunities to identify areas of strategic importance. This process enables Tata Steel to effectively prioritise stakeholder needs and integrate them into decision making, ensuring sustainable and long-term value creation.

Since FY2012-13, Tata Steel has been conducting periodic materiality assessments to understand key stakeholder issues and focus areas to prioritise the Company’s risks and opportunities. The last assessment, completed in 2023, was a double materiality assessment that included input from stakeholders across all our operating regions: India, Thailand, the Netherlands, and the UK. We adopted a dual approach to assess the significant impacts that society, the environment, and the economy have on our business, as well as the effects our operations have on economic, environmental, and social well-being. The next cycle of this assessment is planned for the upcoming year, and its outcomes will shape our future sustainability priorities and disclosures.

The 2023 material assessment was performed on a consolidated basis through a systematic stakeholder consultation led by an independent agency, following best-inclass international standards. It has helped Tata Steel identify the top 15 ESG issues, material to its business and is integral to its vision of being the global steel industry benchmark for Value Creation and Corporate Citizenship. The assessment is aligned with the guidance from International Standard Setting Bodies, including but not limited to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework, covering both general standards and sector-specific standards related to iron and steel, and metals and mining industries. Material topics are further linked to the requirements of GRI, SASB, World Steel Association (WSA), Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR), and World Economic Forum (WEF).

The risks arising out of material issues are assessed as per the organisation’s Enterprise Risk Management process and framework.

There are two aspects of Tata Steel's materiality assessment:

Impact Materiality: Determined by the scale, scope, and irreversible nature of the impact, this factor considers the effects on both people and the environment.

Financial Materiality: Determined by the risks and opportunities, this factor considers the impact on the organisation's financials.

Stakeholders considered

In accordance with the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard, Tata Steel's insights and their independent assessment, the independent agency identified the following stakeholders for the purpose of materiality assessment:

  1. 1 Investors and Lenders
  2. 2 Customers
  3. 3 Vendor Partners/Suppliers
  4. 4 Government and Regulatory Bodies
  5. 5 Employees
  6. 6 Community
  7. 7 Media
  8. 8 Industry Bodies
  9. 9 Senior Management
  10. 10 Contract Workforce
  11. 11 NGOs

High priority materiality issues on a consolidated basis

Scatter plot of Tata Steel's 15 high-priority materiality issues mapped on Impact Materiality (x-axis) against Financial Materiality (y-axis).
  • 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Management
  • 2 Circular Economy/Recycling of By-products
  • 3 Water Consumption and Effluent Discharge
  • 4 Energy Efficiency/Energy Management
  • 5 Air Pollution/Air Quality Management
  • 6 Biodiversity
  • 7 Occupational Health and Safety
  • 8 Employee Well-being and Development
  • 9 Community Support and Building Thriving Communities
  • 10 R&D/Technology, Product and Process Innovation
  • 11 Supply Chain Sustainability
  • 12 Corporate Governance
  • 13 Business Ethics, Integrity and Transparency
  • 14 Stakeholder Engagement
  • 15 Risk Management
Financial Capital Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital
Environment Social Governance

Integration of materiality assessment results into the ERM Framework: All 15 ESG issues identified are mapped to the framework, ensuring that key sustainability concerns are effectively integrated. This comprehensive approach allows us to manage risks more thoroughly and supports our long-term sustainability goals.

Approach KPIs Capital linkages
Environment

GHG Emissions and Climate Change Management

  • For details, please refer to the Climate Change report
  • GHG Emissions – Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3
  • Emission intensity per tonne of crude steel
Financial Capital Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital

Circular Economy/Recycling of By-products

Tata Steel follows two approaches for value creation from waste and by-products:

  • Maximise the usage of scrap in steelmaking
  • Maximise revenue from sale of by-products
  • Total steel scrap recycled (internal and external)
  • Total solid waste generated
  • Total solid waste utilised
Financial Capital Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital

Water Consumption and Effluent Discharge

  • The Company actively implements the 4R principle (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover) to reduce its water footprint across multiple locations
  • Tata Steel is also exploring other sources of water to replace freshwater and remains dedicated to replenishing the water sources
  • Total fresh water consumption
  • Total effluent discharge volume
Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital

Energy Efficiency/Energy Management

  • Tata Steel strives to ensure energy efficiency in all its areas of operations by reducing energy consumption, recovering and reusing waste heat, and increasing renewable energy mix
  • Total energy consumption
  • Specific energy consumption
  • Renewable energy consumption
Financial Capital Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Natural Capital

Air Pollution/Air Quality Management

  • Tata Steel frequently upgrades its pollution control equipment to assess and manage its air emissions to ensure a healthy air quality
  • Stack SOx emission
  • Stack NOx emission
  • Stack dust emission
Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital

Biodiversity

  • Tata Steel strives to conserve, enhance and restore biodiversity in its operations and across the supply chain
  • Sites covered under Biodiversity Management Plans (BMP)
Financial Capital Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital
Tinplate Centenary Park, Jamshedpur
Tinplate Centenary Park, Jamshedpur
Social

Occupational Health and Safety

  • Tata Steel's safety and health responsibilities are driven by its commitment to zero harm
  • The Company has a robust safety management system framework and a sound safety governance structure
  • Lost-time Injury
  • Lost-time Injury Frequency Rate
  • Fatalities
Intellectual Capital Human Capital

Employee Well-being and Development

  • Tata Steel has implemented various innovative policies and best practices aimed at promoting healthy employee relations, fostering growth and development, and enhancing job satisfaction
  • Tata Steel offers industry-leading social security benefits to its employees and their families
  • Employee productivity
  • Employee training
  • Workforce covered through a formal trade union
  • Employee gender ratio
  • Employee diversity mix
Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital

Community Support and CSR Building Thriving Communities

  • Demonstrating its unwavering commitment to the well-being of the community and society, the Company's CSR initiatives are focused on Education, Health, Livelihoods, and Infrastructure, for a positive impact on the quality of life
  • Lives impacted through CSR (in millions)
  • CSR spend (in ` crore)
Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital
Governance

R&D/Technology, Product and Process Innovation

  • Tata Steel aspires to be among the top 5 global technology leaders in the steel industry and has consistently used technology and innovation to build a rich portfolio of future-ready products and is actively engaged in the development and pilot of various low CO2 steelmaking technologies
  • Total collaborations/memberships of academia and technical institutes
  • Total number of patents filed and granted
  • Total number of new products developed
Financial Capital Manufactured Capital Intellectual Capital

Supply Chain Sustainability

  • Tata Steel's Responsible Supply Chain Policy integrates sustainability within its supply chain, by setting assessment standards and mandating trainings for the supply chain partners
  • Various measures have also been taken to reduce Scope 3 emissions
  • Scope 3 emissions
  • Active supplier base, local suppliers – no. and volume
  • Affirmative Action suppliers – no. and volume
  • Supplier assessments, supplier awareness and training
  • No. of shipments using alternative fuels
Intellectual Capital Social and Relationship Capital

Corporate Governance

  • Tata Steel has established a solid foundation for corporate governance, guided by an active, knowledgeable, and independent Board, along with various Board Committees
  • This framework is further reinforced by the Company's commitment to ethical governance and its ERM practices
  • Board/Committee governance disclosures and reporting
  • Ethics and compliance
  • Risk management
  • Succession planning and executive compensation
Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital
Ethics Torchbearer Award at Tata Ethics Conclave 2025
Ethics Torchbearer Award at Tata Ethics Conclave 2025

Business Ethics, Integrity, and Transparency

  • Guided by the Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC) and Tata values, Tata Steel has implemented the Management of Business Ethics (MBE) framework to ensure fair and transparent business conduct
  • Whistleblower cases closed
  • Sexual harassment cases closed
  • Trainings on TCoC for employees and business associates
Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital

Stakeholder Engagement

  • Tata Steel aims to harmonise the needs, interests, and expectations of all stakeholders with the requirements of the business through a unified and inclusive approach
  • Stakeholder grievance management forums
  • Stakeholder grievances addressed during the year
Financial Capital Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital

Risk Management

  • Tata Steel's ERM process is based on COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organisations), ISO 31000:2018, and various industry best practices
  • This process is consistently implemented throughout the organisation, with risks related to potential material issues being incorporated into the Company's ERM framework
  • Risk Maturity Assessment score
  • Risk Management Committee reviews
Manufactured Capital Human Capital Social and Relationship Capital Natural Capital
Financial implication: Positive Negative Opportunity Risk