RANCHI, June 9: Tata Steel’s interventions in healthcare, education, livelihoods, tribal development and climate resilience have positively impacted 6.9 million people across six states, and the company is committed to scaling up its community development programmes, a senior official said.
The initiatives are being implemented through Tata Steel Foundation, which anchors the company’s corporate social responsibility programmes.
The foundation spent around Rs 480 crore for community development programmes in FY’26 and mobilised additional resources through partnerships with financial institutions and development agencies, Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) DB Sundara Ramam told PTI.
“We impacted 6.9 million lives across Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. We spent Rs 480 crore on community development programmes in FY’26. Besides, another Rs 80 crore was mobilised through partnerships with institutions such as Standard Chartered Bank and the Gates Foundation,” he said.
In August 2024, the foundation partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to implement the Integrated Watershed and Climate Proofing Project in the Noamundi block of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district.
The initiative aims to conserve soil and water resources and improve the socio-economic status of communities in the watershed area, covering around 1,500 households in 15 villages, he said.
Ramam also said healthcare continues to be a major area of intervention.
Tata Steel’s healthcare ecosystem includes the 1,000-bed Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur and medical facilities at Kalinganagar, Meramandali, West Bokaro and Jharia.
The foundation’s Ranchi Cancer Care programme has expanded its outreach across several districts of Jharkhand, supporting screening, early diagnosis and referrals for specialised treatment, he said.
In the education sector, initiatives such as ‘Masti Ki Pathshala’ were taken up with vulnerable and out-of-school children to facilitate their integration into the formal education system, the company official said.
“Under Masti Ki Pathshala, children from the poor strata are identified and sent to regular schools. The children, including ragpickers and slum dwellers, are now going to school. Even some of them who were on drugs were motivated to go to school…There is a pilot project for such children in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in association with the Odisha government,” Ramam said.
The foundation is working in 10 towns in Odisha, and that can be replicated in other states, he said.
It also supports the preservation of indigenous tribal languages, including Ho, Mundari and Santhali, while its ‘Samvaad’ platform promotes tribal culture, heritage and knowledge systems, he said.
Launched on 15 November 2014 to commemorate the birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda, ‘Samvaad’ is a platform where different tribes in India and some from outside were brought together, he said.
Ramam said tribal cuisine is also being promoted through the initiative, including collaborations with hotels of the Taj group, and a book documenting tribal food traditions has been published.
“At its heart, ‘Samvaad’ is a platform for cultural assertion, learning, and collaboration. It brings forward stories of resilience, revival, and community wisdom, while creating opportunities for tribal communities to reclaim their narratives, strengthen livelihoods, and engage with wider society on their own terms,” the company said.
Tribal cuisine is one of the elements of the initiative, which speaks of the tribal identity through its culinary heritage and the spirit of the community.
“This project is an initiative aimed at preserving, promoting, and mainstreaming the rich culinary heritage of India’s tribal communities. At its core, tribal cuisine is not merely about food – it is a powerful expression of tribal identity, heritage, and lived knowledge systems,” the company said.
The initiative uses tribal cuisine as a medium of dialogue and dignity, enabling communities to reclaim narratives around their food, identity, and knowledge systems, it said.
Sports development remains another key pillar of Tata Steel’s community engagement efforts.
“The company spends about Rs 60-70 crore annually on sports promotion through academies and high-performance centres across disciplines such as hockey, football, archery, athletics, swimming and rowing,” Ramam said.
According to the company, athletes nurtured through the steel maker’s sports ecosystem have earned one Padma Bhushan, 12 Padma Shri awards, one Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, six Dronacharya Awards, 42 Arjuna Awards and one Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alongside its social initiatives, Tata Steel is progressing with capacity expansion projects at Kalinganagar, Meramandali, and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), while pursuing decarbonisation measures through investments in scrap-based steelmaking, hydrogen pilot projects and other low-carbon technologies.
Ramam said the company plans to further strengthen its social development programmes as it expands its industrial footprint across the country. (PTI)
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