Tata Steels romance with Orissa
Historically, Tata Steel has been exploiting exhaustible mineral resources of Orissa without contributing to the local value-added activities. Other Indian states like Bihar/Jharkhand, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, in the name of national properties, silently encouraged Tata Steel to continue its exploitation so that they get advantage of high-value added activities that the company tends to locate into their territory. Most unfortunately, politicians and bureaucrats of these states did not allow the development of vital infrastructure of Orissa like port and railway facilities for their narrow economic gain. Orissa continued to suffer from high social costs of mining like environmental degradation, waste land, air and water pollution, damage to agriculture, etc., due to increased mining activities by Tata Steel and other corporate entities in the post-Independence period but got no benefit in terms of local value-addition. It is high time that Orissa people, intellectuals, and politicians acted to safeguard the larger interests of the state. Companies like Tata Steel that have been exploiting Orissa without contributing to the local economy must be asked to leave the exhaustible mineral resources of the state.