Tata Iron Research Articles

Jamshed Jiji Irani (1936 –2022)

Dr. Jamshed Jiji Irani passed away on 31.10.2022 at the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur. He was 86 and was ailing for some time. In fact, Dr. Irani had received severe internal injuries as he slipped in February, 2021, in the bathroom at his house near Beldih Golf Course in Jamshedpur. He was rushed to the Tata Main Hospital, where he was treated and discharged, but did not fully recover thereafter. Dr. Irani is survived by wife Daisy Irani and three children Zubin, Niloufer, and Tanaaz. Dr. Irani had a close Nagpur connect, as he was born here and had his education upto the post graduation level in the Orange City. Starting his school education in SFS School, he did B.Sc. from College of Science (now Institute of Science) in 1956 and post graduation in geology from the Nagpur University, P. G. Department of Geology in 1958. He decided to switch over to metallurgy and was awarded the J. N. Tata fellowship to study abroad. Dr. Irani earned his master's in 1960 and doctorate in 1963 in metallurgy from the University of Sheffield, U.K.. After a stint with British Iron and Steel Research Association, U. K., he returned to India in 1968 and started his innings with Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (TISCO), now Tata Steel. He soon rose to higher ranks, getting promoted to the post of Managing Director in 1992. Dr. Irani took over as MD from the high profile Mr. Russi Mody. Soon after, Dr. Irani took steps to make his company's steel prices competitive for the world market and bagged export orders. At this time Tata's steel prices were the lowest in the world. His position as the Head of Tata Steel and his apt handling of the company earned him the title "Steel Man of India" who reinvented Tata Steel. He took giant steps to enable local entrepreneurs around Jamshedpur develop their skills and become suppliers to the Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Jamshedpur. With his initiative, Jamshedpur soon became a hub for ancillary suppliers. With Dr. Irani at the helm of affairs, a new work culture of 8-hour shifts began at Tata Steel. He was elevated as Director, Tata Sons, a post that he held till 2011, along with boardroom posts in other Tata companies including Tata Motors and Tata Tele Services. Dr. Irani continued to remain on the Tata Steel board as Director till 2011. Dr. Irani was conferred an honorary knighthood (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2007 from Government of India. In 2004, the government appointed him as the Chairman of the Expert Committee for formulation of the new Indian Companies Act. He also held the post of National President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) during 1992-93. Dr. Irani was always a cricketer till his last years and also an avid stamp and coin collector. The leader and great visionary retired from all the posts of Tata companies in 2011, settling down at Jamshedpur to lead a peaceful life. Dr. Irani maintained a deep connect with the Gondwana Geological Society and his moral and philanthropic support always came by, whenever requested for. Our Society is extremely grateful to Dr. Irani for his encouragement and support and has sadly lost one of its most esteemed members. We deeply condole the passing away of Dr. Irani.

Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism by Mircea Raianu

Reviewed by: Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism by Mircea Raianu Sangaralingam Ramesh (bio) Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism By Mircea Raianu. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021. Pp. 304. This book is based on documentation found at the Tata Central Archives (TCA) in Pune and the Tata Steel Archives (TSA) in Jamshedpur, India. It runs from the founding of the Empress Mills in 1877 by Jamsetji Tata, forerunner of the Tata Corporations, to India's 1975 Emergency Laws. Several monographs have appeared on the Tata company's history: Kuber and Pande, The Tatas (2020); Witzel, Tata (2010); The Tata Saga (2018); and Maira, The Learning Factory (2020). But so far, none has delved into its archives. Raianu's main argument is that the development of Tata has mirrored the transformation of the Indian economy from trade to industry and then to the services sector. From its foundation in 1877, the company has branched out to textiles, iron, and steel, as well as hydroelectric power. Jamsetji Tata was guided by the concept of constructive philanthropy, which brought him into conflict with the British rulers of India. While the British did not anticipate India's independence, Jamsetji felt that it was the Indian private sector's responsibility to build the industrial infrastructure for a future independent India. Moreover, in bequeathing an endowment for establishing the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Jamsetji felt that besides the material infrastructure associated with factories and manufacturing, the Indian economy should also have a complementary infrastructure for the production and exchange of knowledge. This in turn would facilitate the development of an innovative economy. However, the establishment of the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) at the turn of the twentieth century reflected how underdeveloped the Indian economy had become under British rule, especially regarding the lack of skilled labor and limited urban development. TISCO was established by Sir Dorabji Tata in 1907 in Jamshedpur. As skilled labor was hardly available, TISCO trained unskilled workers to use sophisticated technology and thus laid the foundations for the urbanization of Jamshedpur. Tata set the future pattern for the industrialization of India, acting like a sovereign power, both in acquiring land from local villagers in the Jamshedpur region and in labor relations. TISCO's R&D department did not produce new technologies but implemented imported ones. The firm became a significant player in the national economy. In the period after independence, Tata expanded into chemicals, aviation, and automobiles, which required advanced technology and labor skills. However, Raianu's account of how Tata developed only goes as far as the mid-1970s. Important developments in more recent times are therefore not discussed, [End Page 920] for example the turn to neoliberalism under pressure from the IMF and the shift to the IT sector, which is now its main source of income while profits from manufacturing are declining. From its very beginnings, Tata's main contributions to India's economic development have consisted of importing technology, training unskilled labor to perform skilled, technical work, and the establishment of institutes such as the IISC. Furthermore, as India came to govern itself and the government was able to establish policies for India's development, more and more educated workers were graduating from Indian universities. As Raianu's description of Tata ends in the 1970s, he neither evaluates nor analyzes the company's endogenous technological innovations. On this topic, there is scope for another book. Sangaralingam Ramesh Sangaralingam Ramesh is currently lecturer (teaching) at University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and tutor at the University of Oxford's Department for Continuing Education. He is also the author of several books, including The Rise of Empires: The Political Economy of Innovation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Citation: Ramesh, Sangaralingam. "Review of Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism by Mircea Raianu." Technology and Culture 63, no. 3 (2022): 920–21. Google Scholar Copyright © 2022 Society for the History of Technology

Productivity performance of steel companies in India:A comparative study of Tata Iron & Steel company Ltd and Essar Steel Company Ltd

Productivity performance of steel companies in India:A comparative study of Tata Iron & Steel company Ltd and Essar Steel Company Ltd

“A mass of anomalies”: Land, Law, and Sovereignty in an Indian Company Town

AbstractThis article examines the emergence of Jamshedpur, site of India's first steel plant and privately governed company town, as part of an unprecedented large-scale extraction of mineral resources at the turn of the twentieth century for the purpose of industrial development. It traces the protracted acquisition of land and dispossession of mainlyadivasi(tribal) cultivators by the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) from ca. 1900 to 1930. The company pursued a distinct strategy of obtaining short-term leases from princely states andzamindars(landowners), while simultaneously appealing to the legal apparatus of the colonial state to secure absolute tenurial rights. The uneven application of laws such as the Land Acquisition Act (1894) and the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act (1908) allowed TISCO to become a quasi-sovereign power in eastern India, simultaneously acting as employer, landlord, and municipal government. Jamshedpur's continually anomalous legal status underlies the persistence of multiple, fragmented, and competing sovereignties in India, even as an ostensibly unified national economic state space emerged by the time of independence in 1947. More broadly, it suggests that the contours of the relationship between states and corporations, particularly in a postcolonial context, are determined both by preexisting political geographies and contingent legal struggles.

IMPACT OF COPPER MINES ON TRIBAL LAND USE PATTERN AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AT MUSABONI AND SURROUNDING AREA.

The process of population growth in the urban area along with the article deals with the study of changes of land use pattern Socio-economic activities of tribes as a result of rapid urbanization. It encompasses an extensive survey of the tribes’ dwelling places in urban, fringe and the rural settlements. The salient features include exploration of the physical and cultural background in the case study area. Composition of tribe families in 1931, Tribal population growth rate during 1931 to 2011, Urban to Rural Tribal population ratio, the proportion of Tribal people affected by urbanization and rapid populating in the study area i.e. change of their tradition and culture after the urbanization etc. Major findings include: 
 Perceptible changes occurred in Socio cultural system of tribes like birth, funeral, religion etc. Land use pattern, Majhi- Pargana system, tendency to change surnames, erosion of mother tongue, advent of dowry system, hunting system in forests, vanishing forefather’s name. Use of modern costume, musical instruments, dances in place of their traditional ones, etc. 
 Pull factors i.e. Urbanization and urban development is started in the East Singhbhum the commercial, industrial and transport preferment has favored the recent urban development throughout the areas. These have been accelerated with the overwhelming growth of population in urban areas through migration at acceleration and natural growth. These have given rise to systems of central places, problems of slums and squatter settlements besides enhancing the linkages of industrial centers thereby increasing the entropy of urban places. All these have forced the Governments to think about change in the urban policies, population policies and planning prospects. 
 In the East Singhbhum District process of rapid population growth started from the establishment of Tata Iron and Steel Company in 1907 as well as copper mines at Mosaboni and Ghatshila in 1927. This development changed the socio cultural life style of tribes. Though their Living standard, Educational and Economic condition had changed, they stand developed in all aspects but as a trade-off lost their socio-cultural composition a great deal. They must continue their positive traditional cultures and social traits and may do away with the negative sides like excessive drinking habits of the traditional brew etc. to avoid the extinction in the long run from the memory of the future generations. It is possible only by the awareness to them. Aboriginal culture has many important things, which need to be preserved and have to continue as Indian culture in the context of sustaining beautiful diversity of Indian culture landscape.

The Effect of Fly Ash Application on Phosphorus Availability in an Acid Soil

Fly ash has increasingly been used as soil amendment. The mobility of the plant nutrient, phosphorus (P), from fly ash into plant roots is limited due to various inherent locking of P in fly ash. Similarly, the phosphatic fertilizer added to acid soils is fixed and is not easily available to plants. The present study is focused on finding some important aspects of P fractions, P fixing capacity, and P adsorption behavior in acid soil and fly ash- soil mixtures to substantiate the beneficial effect of fly ash addition to acid soil in overcoming the P fixation. Fly ash collected from the fluidized bed combustion power plant of Tata Iron and Steel Company, Jamadoba, Dhanbad, India, and acid soil from Jamdoba village was mixed at different ratios for studying the behavior of P in soil and fly ash soil mixtures. In fly ash out of 3,140 mg kg−1 total P, only 2.89% (90.95 mg kg−1) was in loosely bound form, whereas in soil 54.45 mg kg−1 P (10.8%) out of the 504 mg kg−1 total P was in loosely bound form. Most of the P in fly ash (55.0%) was associated with Ca, while it was Fe-P (40.6%) in soil. The P adsorption maximum followed the order: fly ash (9,354 mg kg−1), 7:1 mix (8,850 mg kg−1), 3:1 mix (8,547 mg kg−1), soil alone (8,130 mg kg−1), and 1:1 mix (7,194 mg kg−1). The supply parameter calculated from the equilibrium phosphorus concentrations and adsorption data showed that the supply parameter increased with fly ash addition. Individually, P fixing capacity of the fly ash and soil was 75.6 and 65.68%, respectively, when both were mixed (1:1), the P fixing capacity decreased to 52.94% due to the synergistic interaction between soil and fly ash. Thus, though fly ash and acid soil is having difficulty with P availability, mixing enhanced the availability of P synergistically.

Selling steel in the 1920s

Through a case study on the Tata Iron and Steel Company, this article aims to clarify how a large-scale Indian industrial enterprise developed its business strategy in order to expand suitable sales networks in the 1920s, when the consumption pattern of steel changed drastically. In correspondence with the change, the company devised a business strategy to develop its sales network to minimise information asymmetries between the company, the end user and the intermediary merchant. The development of the sales network enabled the company to cultivate an emerging demand in domestic outlets, thereby helping the company survive after the 1920s. Besides, these successes could have prompted the House of Tata, the family owning the steel company, to initiate development in the domestic market to further its interest after the 1920s. Presumably, this resulted in the sharing of its views with some of the local merchants and entrepreneurs who had opposed the laissez-faire policy of the colonial government to preserve domestic outlets in their hands.

Why Was Indian Steel Not Exported in the Colonial Period?—The influence of the British Standard Specification in limiting the potential export of Indian steel in the 1930s

AbstractWhile various scholars of Indian economic history have focused on the progress of import substitution in India after the 1920s, few have studied why this led to hardly any export of industrial products during the colonial period. One of the most probable reasons for the lesser popularity of this issue could be attributed to a commonly shared view that there was less hope for the export of industrial products in colonial India since import substitution had progressed only so far. Although it is accepted that the industrial development of colonial India was generally stagnant, this does not necessarily apply to specific products in specific industries. For instance, the iron and steel industry achieved almost a full self-sufficiency rate for some of its steel products during the 1920s, although the industry hardly exported the products afterward. This paper aims to clarify why hardly any steel of the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), the only steel producing company with modern technology until the mid-1930s, was exported. A detailed study of the company's archives will show that the steel export of the company was fundamentally hindered by a fact which had its origin in British imperial policy: the strict quality specifications in the production of steel.

Is the Way of Managing Working Capital for Public and Private Sector Enterprises Different?: 'Discussion Based on Comparative Case Studies of TISCO and RINL'

Revealing factors responsible for the creation of difference in management of current assets between public sector and private sector enterprises is a complex task. However pattern of decision making at miscellaneous junctures differs in a great way between the two. Apart from the above mentioned cause work culture, atmosphere and environment within the organizations etc. are few aspects which are not identical in many ways within the public and private sector enterprises. Hence its impact can be observed in operating activities too. Taking a glance over vivid distinguishable factors like movement of inventory, changes in the level of cash and extent of dependence over current liabilities etc. one may get guidelines to point out the causes liable for creating difference in managing working capital between two types of enterprises. Although it is assumed that the pattern of utilization of current assets and exploitation of current liabilities differs between the two enterprises, it becomes a must to check the validity of the statement. Further analysis is confined to Indian Iron and Steel Industry. Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) represent private and public sector enterprises respectively.

Managing E-Procurement Solutions Portfolio: Case Study of an Indian Steel Manufacturer

ABSTRACT Increasingly firms are using e-solutions to fulfill their procurement needs. In the last few years, various forms of e-Procurement solutions have emerged. This case study looks into the evolution of e-Procurement solutions at an Indian steel manufacturer, Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO). This case study raises questions about the determinants of each solution type and its consequences. This study argues that rather than sticking to one solution, firms need to manage a portfolio of e-Procurement solutions to realize the full potential of the Internet.

Development of a Noise Model with Respect to Sound Propagation and its Application to a Mining Complex

A noise source radiates sound energy and will get attenuated to some extent until it reaches the receiver point. The five salient parameters for noise attenuation were considered here, e.g. geometric spreading, barrier, air absorption, ground effect, and meteorological effect. Algorithms of these attenuation parameters were evaluated based on the following considerations. • All the noise sources were considered as point sources or line sources or plane sources. • No directivity index was considered. • For all the receiver points the minimum resultant sound pressure level due to any number of sources was considered to be equal to the background sound pressure level of that area. Based on these algorithms,the programming was written in 'C' language. The noise database of Bhelatand mining complex of TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited) was used to test and validate the model. The final printout of the results indicates the locations and the resultant sound pressure level [Leq(R)] of the receiver point...

Noise Impact Assessment in Tisco Mining Complexes in Jharia Coalfield

This paper highlights the development of value function curves for noise impact assessment based on a literature review and consultation with numerous experts; applying theory to the evaluation of noise impact in the residential complexes of Jamadoba and Sijua coal mining Complexes of the Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Dhanbad, Jharkhand (India). The ranking and relative weightings of five important effects of noise exposure were established. The relationships between these parameters and Noise Environment Quality (NEQ) value were evaluated through available research findings and accordingly value-function curves for each parameter were developed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences; then, Resultant NEQ [NEQ (R)] was evaluated for all the residential, commercial and other sensitive areas of the Jamadoba and Sijua complexes. This was followed by the validation through a systematic reaction survey of the exposed population on a five-point scale which led to the evaluation of the percentage population which was highly dissatisfied in each of the localities, as well as the noise impact indices of both the residential complexes.

A plant comparison of the vorsyl separator and dense medium cyclone in the treatment of Indian coals

In India, a major portion of metallurgical coal of desirable ash is produced from the dense medium cyclone (DMC) process. Based on detailed laboratory studies, vorsyl separator (VS), a centrifugal dense medium separator, was established to be a possible alternative to the dense medium cyclone. To establish further at commercial scale, trials were undertaken with 400 and 600-mm vorsyl separators made of mild steel, at the captive washeries of the Tata Iron and Steel. The studies clearly showed that the VS gave about 4% higher combustible recovery compared to a DMC at the same ash rejection level. Generalised E p value of 0.033–0.045 for VS was also found lower compared to 0.043–0.068 for DMC. This clearly established the better sharpness of separation in VS compared to DMC. Vorsyl separator made of suitable wear-resistant material is recommended for regular plant use.

The Making of the Indian Working Class: A Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1880-1946 (review)

Reviewed by: The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880–1946 * Ravi Kalia (bio) The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880–1946. By Vinay Bahl. New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, Calif., and London: Sage Publications, 1995. Pp. 432; tables, notes, bibliography, index. $36. Interpretations of Indian history have been influenced by many Western ideologies; Marxists, Freudians, McLuhanites, Saidians, and subalternists all have their labels for the stage India is in, each group according to its own scheme of evolution. It should thus come as no surprise that Vinay Bahl, in The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880–1946, acknowledges his intellectual debt to the British Marxist historian E. P. Thompson and makes a particular effort to challenge the prevailing subalternist orthodoxy, which gained legitimacy in the 1980s by focusing specifically on peasant revolts during British rule. Bahl accomplishes [End Page 782] his task with meticulous research and remarkable candor. This volume is a valuable contribution to the growing literature on India’s industrialization and the working-class movement. Bahl argues that the workers at the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) did not acquire working-class consciousness simply by recognizing themselves as a group. Rather, they acquired that awareness through a complex process in which social, cultural, political, and economic forces of the region interacted with the nationalist movement and global capitalistic trends. The development of the Indian steel industry was not a result of the formulation of Indian venture capital, nor did it develop as a result of the enlightened policy of the British administration. In fact, the Liberal Governor General Lord Ripon’s efforts in the early 1880s to start a steel industry in India were rejected by the home government (p. 55). After 1880, however, when British industrial primacy came to be challenged by Germany and later by the United States (pp. 48-51), the British government found it advantageous to set up a steel industry in India. Unable to attract British capital to invest in Indian steel and burdened by the rising costs of imported steel from Europe and America, the British felt pressure from the growing nationalist movement in India. The British government finally allowed Indian capital to be invested in the steel industry. Other factors facilitating the rise of India’s steel industry were the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885, the introduction of the railways in India after 1900, and the accumulation of surplus capital in India during World War I. In chapters 2 through 7, Bahl discusses the factors promoting the formation of the Indian working class. British policies that contributed to recurring famines created a migratory labor force and surplus labor market in India. At TISCO, the workers were exploited by the management, who closely controlled them by keeping them divided along lines of religion, language, caste, and gender. The Indian National Congress treated TISCO as a “national industry,” but the Tatas did not identify themselves with the congress until it suited their interest. The TISCO workers themselves were slow in developing a class consciousness and were first organized by Western-educated congress leaders. In crushing the labor movement, the TISCO management was assisted by the British, who saw it as a threat to wartime efforts, and by the Indian National Congress, which considered it a challenge to the growing Indian bourgeoisie. Moreover, the congress was anxious to co-opt the workers’ movement before the Communists could do so. As a reaction to these forces, the TISCO workers came to identify themselves as a group and develop a class consciousness. Bahl has consulted a wide range of primary and secondary sources in India and Britain, including private papers of several important leaders, such as Rajendra Prasad, Purshotamdas Thakurdas, M. N. Roy, and Homi Modi. The author also interviewed the late J. R. D. Tata. This book deserves [End Page 783] a wide readership not only among South Asian scholars but also among those interested in comparative and world history. Ravi Kalia Dr. Kalia teaches the history of South Asia at The...

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880-1946

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880-1946

Paternalism in Indian Labor: The Tata Iron and Steel Company of Jamshedpur

The most celebrated case of paternalism in India is that of the Tata Iron and Steel Company (Tisco) and its company town, Jamshedpur. In the context of India, Jamshedpur is a marvel: a relatively clean, spacious, and prosperous city where more people live in middle-class neighborhoods than in slums. With a population of 650,000, Jamshedpur is certainly the largest company town in the world, and, because it is still controlled and administered by the private company that founded it in 1909, it is probably the oldest extant company town. Aside from the town, the steel company itself holds a special place in Indian industrial history. It was founded and capitalized in the colonial period by the Indian business community of Bombay in 1907, began production in 1911, and thereafter took its place as the largest private company in India and the largest integrated steel mill in the British Empire. It has survived revolutionary political changes, near-bankruptcy, and nationalization attempts, largely because its directors convinced the British that it was an essential defense industry and the Indian nationalists that it was a national treasure run by men of integrity for the benefit of the nation.

Characterization of haul road dust in an Indian opencast iron ore mine

Vehicular traffic on unpaved haul roads of the opencast mines has been identified as the most prolific source of fugitive dust. An intensive study was carried out in Noamundi Iron ore mines of Tata Iron and Steel Co. in January–February 1994 to characterize the airborne aerosol mainly contributed from unpaved haul road, traffic exhaust and re-entrained dust from the other activities of the mine. Percentage of suspended particulate matter at the various size ranges and free silica content of each of the size ranges of haul road dust were determined. Concentrations of eight trace elements, namely, zinc, copper, lead, manganese, cobalt, nickel, cadmium and iron were determined and found to be varying in the range 13.92–16.34, 0.06–0.09, 0.71–0.79, 0.14–0.15, 0.08–0.11, 0.15–0.17, 0.003–0.004 and 390–401.20 μg m −3, respectively. A study on enrichment factor and varimax rotated factor analysis indicates the four major sources namely soil/road dust, vehicle exhaust, metallic corrosion and, galvanized material, tire wear and zinc compound in rubber material which appear to contribute trace elements to airborne aerosol.

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880-1946.

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1880-1946.

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1880-1946

The Making of the Indian Working Class: The Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1880-1946

The making of the Indian working class: a case of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1880-1946

Foreword - Ramkrishna Mukherjee Introduction British Hegemony, the Empire and the Emergence of the Indian Steel Industry (1880-1907) Formation of the TISCO Labour Force (1900-1920) Role of Colonial, International and National Forces in the Growth of TISCO (1912-1946) The Making of the TISCO Working Class Emergence of the Trade Union (1920-1921) The Making of the TISCO Working Class Struggle for Recognition (1921-1925) The Shaping of the TISCO Working Class Split in the Movement (1927-1930) The Shaping of the TISCO Working Class Triumph of the Congress Party's Hegemony (1930-1946) An Assessment of the Role of the Indian Capitalists, the Colonial State, and the Nationalist Leaders in the Making and Shaping of the TISCO Workers' Movement