“Tata Steel believes that the primary purpose of the business is to improve the quality of people's life. Tata Steel will volunteer its resources to the extent it can reasonably afford, to sustain and improve healthy and prosperous environment and to improve the quality of life of the people of the area in which it operates.”
- CSR Policy, 2003

The Tata Steel Vision aspires to make it the global steel industry benchmark in Value Creation and Corporate Citizenship. This concept in Tata Steel has evolved considerably over the years and been reinforced through goal setting, measurement and reporting across the organisation. Responding to the challenges of our time, Tata Steel has adopted an approach of value creation through sustainability, for all its stakeholders.

From the earliest days, Tata Steel has taken responsibility for the impact of its activities and been a pioneer in employee welfare measures, social and community initiatives and environment sustainability just as importantly as it has ensured sound financial management and acted as a trustee of shareholders' wealth.

As a policy, all the Group companies promote and encourage economic, social and educational development within their communities while also giving active support to local initiatives. Over the past years Tata Steel has continued to concentrate on safety and corporate social responsibility with special focus on climate change initiatives. Tata Steel along with Tata Power is setting up a captive power plant in IJmuiden, Netherlands using waste gases as input fuel in place of fossil fuel. This will reduce the carbon footprint of the Group significantly. Similarly, in India, recently commissioned efficient ‘H’ Blast furnace operation will reduce specific CO₂ emissions in a significant way.

Sustainability has also been integrated into the business systems at Tata Steel. Inputs from stakeholders through formal and informal processes allow the Company to focus on their concerns, to identify issues and delineate strategic objectives. Stakeholder engagement at Tata Steel happens at various levels and functions through both formal and informal modes like investor and brand surveys, customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, community need analyses, social audits, media reviews, press meets and through interactions and discussions with people involved.

The Company has a focused approach through the creation of a brand called Pragati, which encompasses all the CSR activities of Tata Steel. In keeping with 100 years tradition of serving society, Pragati was developed to serve the long term perspective of CSR communication. Today, Tata Steel’s CSR activities in India encompass the Company’s Steel Works, Iron ore mines and collieries, reaching out to the city of Jamshedpur, its peri-urban areas and over 800 villages in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Community involvement is a characteristic of all Tata Steel Group companies around the world. It can take the form of financial support, provision of materials and the involvement of time, skills and enthusiasm of employees. The Group contributes to a very wide range of social, cultural, educational, sporting, charitable and emergency assistance programmes.
 

Tata Steel engagements in the community include the following:

• Urban Services, development and management of utilities as well as road infrastructure
• Rural Services, including the creation of sustainable livelihoods
• Sports and Youth Welfare
• Education & Employability Training
• Healthcare Facilities and Services
• Conservation and promotion of traditional Culture & Heritage
• Environment Conservation and Preservation of Biodiversity
• Employability Training
• Disaster Management
• Support to non-profit organisations

The Company works in partnership with the Government, national and international development organisations, local NGOs and the community to ensure sustainable development. The Corporate Sustainability Services Division delivers these responsibilities through its institutionalised divisions that consist of:

• The Tata Steel Rural Development Society (for rural communities in and around its operational areas of  Jamshedpur, mines & collieries)
• Tribal Cultural Society (working with the tribal communities)
• Tata Steel Family Initiatives Foundation (working in urban and peri-urban areas of Jamshedpur with family welfare activities and HIV/AIDS)
• Urban services (working in the urban slums of Jamshedpur)

In pursuance of its commitment, as a global citizen the Company continues to uphold and propagate the goals of the United Nations Global Compact, Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS and at the same time, conform to international standards and principles such as SA8000, ISO 14001, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labour Organisation Convention. It is a valued member of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) and has accepted a set of 11 sustainability Indicators to measure its economic, environmental and social performance within the steel industry. In Europe and Asia, several very specific initiatives have ensured that extended communities are benefited by the Group’s businesses.

Tata Steel’s commitment to society was recognised recently by the global consultancy company, Nielsen, which identified Tata Steel as among the companies most admired by stakeholders for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

To know about worldsteel sustainability indicators in detail, please click here.