London/New Delhi:

The United Kingdom on Friday announced a joint investment package with Tata Steel worth 1.25 billion pounds, including a government grant of 500 million pounds, for the country’s largest steelworks in Wales that will help protect thousands of jobs and boost the British economy.

The government’s grant has been dubbed as one of the largest British government support packages in history and a “defining moment” for the country’s steel industry.

As part of the agreement, the Indian steel giant is expected to invest GBP 1.25 billion, including the government grant, in a new electric arc furnace and related facilities for greener steel production at Port Talbot in South Wales, currently the UK’s largest single carbon emitter.

“This investment will modernise and secure a more sustainable future for the UK steel industry.

“It will also protect thousands of skilled jobs in the long-term and help grow the economy,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a post on social media platform X.

Tata Steel UK employs over 8,000 people, including at Port Talbot, which was under serious threat without substantial investment. The company also supports around 12,500 further jobs in the upstream supply chain.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on Friday said the proposal, which is subject to information and consultation processes led by Tata Steel, has the potential to safeguard over 5,000 jobs across Britain.

“The UK government is backing our steel sector, and this proposal will secure a sustainable future for Welsh steel and is expected to save thousands of jobs in the long term,” UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said.

According to her, this is a historic package of support from the UK government and will not only protect skilled jobs in Wales but also “grow the UK economy, boost growth and help ensure a successful UK steel industry”.

Tata Steel and the UK government have announced a joint agreement on a proposal to invest in state-of-the-art electric arc furnace steel making at the Port Talbot site with a capital cost of 1.25 billion pounds, inclusive of a grant from the government of up to 500 million pounds, the company said in a statement.

The new electric furnace is to replace the existing coal-powered blast furnaces, which are nearing the end of their effective life, and reduce the UK’s entire carbon emissions by around 1.5 per cent as a result.

The proposal is subject to relevant regulatory approvals, information, and consultation processes, and finalisation of detailed terms and conditions.

“The agreement with the UK government is a defining moment for the future of the steel industry and indeed the industrial value chain in the UK,” said Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, who had been working with the government in developing a “transition pathway” for sustainable steelmaking in the UK.

“The proposed investment will preserve significant employment and presents a great opportunity for the development of a green technology-based industrial ecosystem in South Wales. We look forward to working with our stakeholders on these proposals in a responsible manner,” he said.

Tata Steel’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director T V Narendran said the proposed project with one of the largest investments in the UK steel industry in recent decades, provides an opportunity for an optimal outcome for all stakeholders.

“We will undertake a meaningful consultation with the Unions on the proposed transition pathway in the context of future risk and opportunities for Tata Steel UK,” Narendran said.

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the proposal is a landmark moment for maintaining ongoing UK steel production – supporting sustainable economic growth, cutting emissions, and creating green jobs.

Tata Steel UK will now inform and consult with staff and unions on the agreed proposals.

“Unions should have had a seat at the table throughout this process, as it is clear the interests of the workforce have not been considered in the rush to sign off a deal to do decarbonisation on the cheap,” the Community steelworkers, which is among those concerned about the arrangements, said.

Stephen Kinnock, Opposition Labour MP for Aberavon which covers Port Talbot, said the investment to decarbonise was long overdue but that he was concerned that ministers did not “adequately consult steel unions”.

The UK government said it would also ensure support for any staff affected by the transition, working with the devolved Welsh government and Tata Steel to establish a dedicated transition board to support both affected employees and the local economy with a funding up to 100 million pounds.

“Steelmaking remains a vital part of the Welsh economy and this huge support package from the UK Government ensures that the industry now has a bright future to match its long and proud history in South Wales,” Welsh Secretary David T C Davies said.

London:

Britain is to pump 500 million pounds ($621 million) into Tata Steel to decarbonise its Welsh site, in a deal aimed at securing the future of the country’s steel industry but which puts as many as 3,000 jobs at risk.

The 1.25 billion pound total funding package for Britain’s biggest steel works includes 750 million pounds from Tata to pay for the switch to producing steel from lower-emission electric arc furnaces from coal-powered methods.

Britain’s government said in a statement its grant, described as one of the largest government support packages in history, would help safeguard 5,000 jobs.

Tata Steel currently employs more than 8,000 people, raising the prospect that there will be as many as 3,000 redundancies as the lower-carbon electric furnaces are less labour intensive.

Tata Steel had long warned that without government help it could close its sites and British business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch said on Friday the government was securing jobs for the long-term.

“The UK government is backing our steel sector, and this proposal will secure a sustainable future for Welsh steel and is expected to save thousands of jobs in the long term,” she said in a statement.

The government said Tata Steel UK would now inform and consult with staff and unions on the proposals.

Britain’s steel industry directly employs 39,800 people according to figures released by UK Steel in May, and supports a further 50,000 jobs in the supply chain.

A domestic steel-making industry is crucial to Britain’s security because it is used to build warships and fighter jets, as well as underpinning the manufacturing, auto and transport sectors.

Britain said the new electric furnaces would cut the country’s entire emissions by around 1.5%.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Private steel major Tata Steel announced a total payout of ₹314.70 crore on account of annual bonus to employees for the year 2022-2023 following the signing of a Memorandum of Settlement with Tata Workers’ Union (TWU) in Jamshedpur.

As per the Memorandum of Settlement the total payout for eligible employees of all applicable divisions of the Company on account of annual bonus will be ₹314.70 crore, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The minimum and maximum annual bonus payable for 2022-23 will be ₹42,561 and ₹4,61,019 respectively.

Since majority of employees of the steel company are drawing salary higher than the limit laid down in the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act, 2015, they are not eligible for bonus under the Act. However, respecting our old traditions, the company is going to pay bonus to all employees in the unionized category, it said.

T. V. Narendran, CEO & MD, Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President (HRM) and other senior executives signed on management’s behalf and Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary, president and Satish Kumar Singh, general secretary, TWU and other office bearers signed on union’s behalf in presence of Rakesh Prasad, Deputy Labour Commissioner, Jamshedpur.

India’s Tata Steel Ltd. expects lower steel prices in the July-September quarter in India and Europe, aided by a fall in the prices of coking coal, a key raw material, its chief executive and managing director said on July 25.

“In India, the Q2 [July-September] realisation will be about 3,000-3,100 rupees per tonne [$36.65-$37.87] lower than Q1 [April-June],” T.V. Narendran told Reuters in an interview, adding that prices in Europe would be 38 pounds per tonne lower in July-September.

The company, backed by India’s Tata Group, sees Indian steel industry prices in line with prices globally and not impacted by aggressive imports, Mr. Narendran said.

China remained the second-biggest steel exporter to India in the April-June quarter, selling 0.4 million tonnes of the alloy, up 58% from the same period a year earlier.

Mr. Narendran said Chinese exports to India were “not yet a big threat”.

However, economic performance in China and India would likely steer prices during October-December, he added.

On Monday, Tata Steel reported a staggering 92% slump in first-quarter profit, hurt by lower alloy prices and expenses related to a pension scheme in Britain.

The company has been in talks with the U.K. Government to seek support for its transition to the so-called “green steel” — produced without the use of heavily polluting fossil fuels such as coal in the melting process — as some of its downstream assets are nearing the end of their cycle.

However, its troubled U.K. operations did not impact the overall business much, Mr. Narendran said.

“There is an urgency in our conversation with the (U.K.) Government. The government understands that,” he added.

The steelmaker is also in talks with its supplier BHP Group to explore decarbonisation projects, he said.

Tata Steel expects an overall improvement in its balance sheet during the rest of the year due to improved margins and cash flow, among others, Mr. Narendran added.

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a screen displaying Tata Steel logo before the start of a news conference in Mumbai, India May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo
| Photo Credit: DANISH SIDDIQUI

Tata Steel on July 24 posted over 93% decline in consolidated net profit to ₹524.85 crore for the April-June quarter of 2023-24 on account of higher expenses.

It had posted ₹7,714 crore net profit in the corresponding period of 2022-23, according to a company filing to exchanges.

Total income also declined to ₹60,666.48 crore from ₹63,698.15 crore in the year-ago quarter, a fall of 4.75%.

Expenses soared to ₹58,553.25 crore in the first quarter of FY24 as against ₹51,912.17 crore a year ago.