Bhubaneswar, Odisha, August 31, 2025 – Tata Steel Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD), Government of Odisha, to advance inclusive and liveable urban habitats in informal settlements. This strategic collaboration aims to reduce urban inequality by unlocking public entitlements and establishing scalable models of inclusive habitat development.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi during the State-level celebration of Local Self-Governance Day at Rail Auditorium, Bhubaneswar. The event was attended by Smt. Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, H&UDD; Shri Arindam Dakua, Director Municipal Administration and other senior government officials. Mr. Sourav Roy, Chief Executive Officer, signed the MoU on behalf of Tata Steel Foundation.

This partnership in being built on a successful collaboration which was initiated in November 2022. Since then, it has already impacted over 1.34 lakh slum households across five municipal corporations through improved tenure security, access to basic services, and better living conditions.

On the occasion, Sourav Roy said: “The signing of this MoU is a significant milestone for us, as it underscores our commitment to making urban settlements inclusive, while unlocking public entitlements for urban slum dwellers and ensuring land rights certificates are made accessible to eligible citizens. Our teams at Bhubaneswar have actively engaged with urban slum residents to identify challenges, information gaps, felt need – through a data-driven survey, and are now emerging as policy advocacy committees for the Government of Odisha. We are happy to be recognised for these focussed efforts leading up to this meaningful partnership that is being initiated today. We are confident to learn and make strides in collaborative efforts in strengthening city-level systems.”

Under the new MoU, the Foundation will continue the State-level Mission Management Unit and deploy dedicated teams across 10 districts and 19 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The initiative is expected to directly benefit approximately 2.28 lakh slum households by enabling access to social welfare schemes and transforming informal settlements into inclusive, resilient urban habitats.

Effective for a period of four years, the MoU reinforces Odisha’s commitment to inclusive urban development by aligning government leadership with corporate implementation capacity. It aims to strengthen city-level systems, empower community institutions, and translate policy intent into measurable, replicable outcomes. The collaboration sets a precedent for transformative habitat development, demonstrating how strategic partnerships can drive scalable impact in informal urban settlements.

This partnership and the subsequent extension of the project will help boost Tata Steel presence in Odisha. In addition, it will enable the Foundation to leverage its expertise in working with the last mile community and significantly enhancing the social impact work across urban slums in Odisha.

About Tata Steel Foundation:
In order to recognise the shifts that will govern the next decade in the development space and to take forward our ambition of emerging as a thought leader of this space, the Tata Steel Foundation – a section 8 Company – was established in 2016. With over 1,500 members spread over ten units and six states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab, the Foundation is a community development implementing organisation focused upon co-creating solutions with tribal and excluded communities in order to address their development challenges. In FY25, the Foundation reached 6.3 million lives through its consolidated programme portfolio effectively positioned under Impact Pathways on Public Health, Education, Livelihoods, Gender and Community Enterprise, Infrastructure and Tribal Identity, at a commitment of over 582.27 crores. It is committed towards playing a larger role in India’s sustainable development as roadmap to achieving its vision to create ‘an enlightened and equitable society where every individual realizes her potential with dignity’.

For more information, pls connect with
Shuvra R (r.shuvra@tatasteelfoundation.org)