Under Ratan, Tata has metamorphosed from the lumbering giant of the eighties to a shifty Goliath. This is not the Tata that created the temples of modern India. This is a Tata bent on sucking every ounce of blood from hapless Indians who do not even realize about the crime being perpetrated on them.
One of the ways the Tatas can make sure that the combined outfit is a lot more profitable than Corus has been is by exporting semi finished steel from India and processing that in Europe. The Tatas have leased some of the most profitable iron ore mines anywhere in the world in the state of Orissa and in all likelihood Orissa would continue to feed this gluttony.
In the last three to four years, iron ore (not finished steel) prices have almost quintupled, but the royalty that Orissa gets has gone up by only 12%. The Tatas make about 1500 Rs. per tonne of iron ore where as the state makes only Rs. 27.5. Recently, when the state government woke up to the situation and began demanding its fair share, it was met with resistance from all possible quarters. Ostensibly, the invisible hand of the Tatas is at play. They do not want Posco to set shop in Orissa; hence they get the commies and the ramshackle Orissa opposition to incite the Adivasis of Kalinganagar to clash with the police, which resulted in 11 deaths. They also do not want the state to export iron ore on its own. They can do all this and more because they can practically buy their way through the system.
In the globalized economy of the 21st century, the Tatas are indistinguishable from the Reliances or the US oil companies for that matter. The motto is to profit by every means. The motto is to colonize by every means. Human beings are just the means of feeding this unholy matrix.
The last great act of magnanimity by the Tatas is half a century old. You may enumerate some philanthropic acts dating back to mid of last century, but Tata under Ratan is no longer the Tata under JRD.
The Big corporates need to make the people offering the land for various projects (sez, big or small) as their share holders and provide the family with training and employment opportunities. The Tatas, Mittals can definites do this. Other IT giants also need to prioritize and implement similar schemes for the benefit of the land owners, rural people.
It is heartening to note that Indian MNCs are coming forward to make big big announcements on their CSR towards the poor people, specially those that are pulled away from the lands which have fed these families for decades. The total rehabilitation of suc people side by side with the construction of mega projects must be legally insisted upon by the government. Lot of big people have promised the moon for poor people and have done very little for them. Such people should be prosecuted and legally punished. As seen in West Bengal, the CM has not till today announced the secret deal with Tatas for the small car project. Why? He owes an explanaion to the people at large.
TATA's were and will always be there for Indian to Help in Infrastructure and Social Causes.
Tata Memorial Hospital for Cancer is the Biggest in Asia.... TATA started the Airways in India (AirIndia), TATA's had the Top Hotel of India (The Taj)... Common Guys, these Mittals and Posco's Cannot even come nearer to What Tata has been doing... Mr. Mittal its pay back Time to your MotherLand...You must have made lots of Big Bucks...Please Invest in India Generously
It is surprising to note that the author of this article has painted the Tatas with the same brush as Mittals and Poscoes of this world, just because they all happen to be in the same industry i.e. steel. Tata Steel has been practicing CSR (not preaching) since the 1920s since inception, when CSR was not even a concept, let alone a trend. Would Jamshedpur be a city without the Tatas? I would term such reporting ill-researched at best, and irresponsible if I were to be frank. Is the author aware that CSR is embedded in the Articles of Association (which defines the very purpose for which a company is set up) of each of the 92 odd Tata Companies? And to suggest that they are taking up CSR as a knee-jerk reaction to bad press is preposterous. A sharp brain is required behind the hand that weilds the pen Ms. Sreelatha Menon, otherwise the pen soon becomes blunt.
