‘Green Economy’ – Tata Steel’s Mantra for ‘World Environment Day’

INDIACSR News Network

JAMSHEDPUR: Tata Steel today observed the World Environment Day across its operational locations. The theme for this year is ‘Green Economy’. The day was flagged off at Jamshedpur’s Jubilee Park by the Chief Guest Mr Akhilesh Kumar Jha (IPS), SSP, East Singbhum, and the Guest of Honor Mr AT Mishra (DFO), Dalbhum and Seraikela along with Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel.

Tata Steel launched a Compost Plant in Jamshedpur today, the first-of-its-kind plant in Jharkhand to help address the issue of climate change in the society. A host of other activities were also organized at various levels and locations – tree plantation, walkathon, inauguration of a plastic road, environment quiz, poster competition and much more.

The event was marked by a special valedictory function to felicitate winners of various competitions organized to enliven the spirit of World Environment Day. Prior to the day, CII had organised a poster competition for the school children, which took place on May 26, 2012, at JRD Tata Sports Complex. The competition was divided into two age categories which made it easy for the judges to decide the winners, looking at the diverse age group of participants who had gathered in hundreds for the show. Also on the cards was an on-line environment quiz competition hosted by Environment Management Division, for the employees at large. The quiz was also rolled out on May 26 and continued till June 01, 2012. Each day, a winner was selected from the several entries that were electronically recorded.

Tata Steel also took the opportunity to felicitate the four cyclists who had traversed 1100 kms braving the hot sun to spread the green message. They were given tokens of appreciation by Mr Akhilesh Jha. Ms Surekha Nerurkar and Ms Srimanti Sen felicitated the winners in all categories with prizes and certificates.

Mr Akhilesh Kumar Jha commented, “I congratulate Tata Steel for this wonderfully organized programme. The entry of corporates into the space of ‘green economy’ would be a remarkable step in the development of our environment and the country. We need to work towards preserving our natural resources, especially water, and JUSCO has already adopted commendable means to address the issue. It’s overwhelming to see the entire city participate actively in the diverse initiatives organised by Tata Steel.”

While welcoming the guests and others present, Mr Sanjiv Paul said, “Tata Steel has always adopted effective measures in improving its processes, invested in break-through technology and developed products and services that minimise negative consequences in the environmental performance of the product-cycle. While the Company operations constantly address environmental sustainability, its rural development activities have also focused on improving the green cover in the area and better water management. Waste utilisation and energy conservation have always been a major concern for us. We must all understand our responsibilities towards our succeeding generations and learn sustainable usage of our resources.”

Mr Manish Sharma, Managing Director, JUSCO proposed the final vote of thanks to all present at the event and promised that JUSCO will adopt sustainable means of functioning to make this city a better place to live in. Also present on the occasion were members of CII, members of JUSCO, other senior officials of the company, office bearers and members of unions from various departments of Tata Steel.

Established in 1907 as Asia’s first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel Group is amongst the leading steel manufacturers in the world with an annual crude steel capacity of over 27 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now the world’s second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of US$ 26.64 billion in FY ’11, has over 81,000 employees across five continents and is a Fortune 500 company. The Group’s vision is to be the world’s steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. In 2008, Tata Steel India became the first integrated steel plant in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize 2008 for excellence in Total Quality Management.