Tata Steel’s commitment to sustainability is not a reaction to recent environmental pressures, it’s a legacy embedded in its corporate DNA. Decades before sustainability became a corporate mandate, the company was laying the groundwork for responsible industrial development.
As early as 1927, Tata Steel established Tata Pigments to repurpose steelmaking waste, showcasing a vision for circularity long before the term entered mainstream discourse. In the 1940s, the construction of Dimna Lake to supply water to Jamshedpur, the industrial township it helped build, signalled an integrated approach to infrastructure, community, and the environment.
In 2020, this philosophy took structured form through the launch of Project Aalingana, derived from the Sanskrit word for “embrace.” The initiative formalised Tata Steel’s sustainability goals around three pillars: emissions reduction, circularity, and biodiversity. With a bold target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, Tata Steel ranks among a small cohort of global steelmakers committed to early climate action. Beyond decarbonisation, the company is advancing water conservation, waste reduction, and use of recycled inputs across its operations.
A key strength of Tata Steel lies in its ability to localise global standards. “Tata steel’s plant in Netherlands meets the World Health Organization’s air quality benchmark for PM 2.5 at 5 micrograms per cubic meter far stricter than India’s 40”, says Rajiv Mangal, Vice President, Safety, Health & Sustainability, Tata Steel. The firm applies this foresight domestically by adopting advanced pollution control technologies such as high-efficiency bag filters over traditional electrostatic precipitators. This builds long-term credibility and operational resilience in an increasingly environmentally conscious marketplace, adds Mangal.
The global shift towards carbon pricing and border adjustments also shapes Tata Steel’s sustainability roadmap. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a clear signal of where the global steel market is headed. With Europe imposing carbon taxes of €60–70 per tonne of CO2, CBAM seeks to level the playing field by ensuring imported steel meets similar environmental standards. “For Tata Steel’s Netherlands operations, this corrects a historical disadvantage against high-emission steel imports. More broadly, Tata Steel advocates a forward-thinking model for India, proposing that carbon taxes collected on exports be reinvested domestically to fund decarbonization efforts. While this proposal is yet to gain traction internationally, it offers a potential blueprint for developing economies to turn carbon tariffs into catalysts for sustainable development”, says Mangal.
Tata Steel’s decision-making is shaped not just by regulation but by internal accountability. It uses a shadow carbon price of $40 per tonne of CO2 to guide investment and operational choices, even though India lacks a formal carbon tax. This internal pricing signals a strategic alignment with a low-carbon future, sometimes at the cost of short-term profits. In its efforts the company led the world’s largest hydrogen injection trial in a blast furnace at its Jamshedpur plant and operates a commercial-scale carbon capture facility building capabilities ahead of regulatory and market shifts.
Water stewardship is a strategic pillar the company focusses on recognizing the steel sector’s high water demands and hence has a need for ecological balance. After a 1.5-year study of the Brahmani River basin in Odisha, where its expansion is centered. Tata Steel is committed to becoming water neutral by 2030 and water positive thereafter.
Inclusivity is another cornerstone of Tata Steel’s sustainability agenda. Implementation is nuanced by local laws: in Odisha, women can work night shifts; in Jharkhand, home to Jamshedpur, they cannot. Despite such hurdles, Tata Steel is investing in inclusive infrastructure and advocating policy change. It has hired over 100 transgender individuals into operational roles like locomotive and heavy vehicle operators and is additionally, training and recruitment programs for persons with disabilities and underrepresented communities.
Extending sustainability beyond its boundaries, Tata Steel enforces strong ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria across its supply chain. Large suppliers are evaluated on emissions and labour practices, while MSMEs receive support to gradually meet these benchmarks. The company monitors Scope 3 emissions across its supply chain and has set reduction targets. It maintains zero tolerance on child labour and human rights violations, with policies that extend to biodiversity and workplace safety.
“Sustainability at Tata Steel is embedded in how we think about competitiveness, resilience, and growth. It is the very foundation of how we create value—for our customers, our business, our community, and the planet. This has been in practice for over a century. We have always planned with a long-term view—whether it was turning industrial waste into value in 1927 or creating shared resources like water infrastructure for communities in the 1940s. Now, we are accelerating the transition: investing in various decarbonisation technologies, shifting to greener process routes, and building ESG readiness across our value chain. Sustainability is not just about meeting regulations, it is a business imperative and we believe early, decisive action is the only way to stay relevant and ahead of the future.” — T. V. Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel
Looking ahead, Tata Steel sees sustainability not as a peripheral strategy, but a core business imperative.
@Riddhima765
