Historical Timeline

March 3, 1839: Jamsetji Tata was born in Navsari, Gujarat, India.

1874: He set up a cotton mill in Nagpur in 1874.

January 1, 1877: He christened cotton mill of Nagpur to Empress Mill on 1 January 1877 when Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India.

April 1904: Jamshedji Tata went to Pittsburgh and asked geologist Charles Page Perin to help him find the site to build his dream - India’s first steel plant. The search for a site rich in the resources needed for the plant, namely iron, coal, limestone and water began in April 1904 in today’s Madhya Pradesh.

May 19, 1904: Jamsetji Tata left this world.

1907: Tata Steel was established by Indian Parsi businessman Jamshedji Tata in 1907

1912: Tata Steel introduced an 8-hour work day as early as in 1912 when only a 12-hour work day was the legal requirement in Britain

1919 - In 1919 Lord Chelmsford named the city Jamshedpur, in honour of its founder,Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata , whose birthday is celebrated on 3rd March as Founder's Day. J. N. Tata had written to his son Dorabji Tata about his vision of a great city in the area.

1920: It introduced leave-with-pay in 1920, a practice that became legally binding upon employers in India only in 1945

1920: Tata Steel started a Provident Fund for its employees as early as in 1920, which became a law for all employers under the Provident Fund Act only in 1952.

1921: Jamshedpur Technical Institute of Tata Steel opened with 23 students on the roll.

1923: The Tinplate Company of India commenced manufacture.

1924: Manufacture of Steel by Duplex Process commenced.

1925: First Tariff Board Enquiry leading to grant of protection to the Iron and Steel Industry. New Rail Mill, Merchant Mill and Sheet Mill go into operation. Mahatma Gandhi, Chittaranjan Das and C F Andrews visit Jamshedpur to discuss labour problems with R D Tata.

1928-29 Scheme of Maternity benefits introduced. Subhas Chandra Bose, President, Jamshedpur Labour Association signed an agreement with N B Saklatvala.

1929-30 Welfare Department organised.

1930-31 Apprentice Shop opened.

1931-32 Agents’ office opened in Calcutta under the charge of Sir Ardeshir Dalal. First Founders’ Day celebrated in Jamshedpur. Tata Steel Limited Review, a bilingual in-house magazine commence publication.

1934: Profit-sharing Bonus granted-first time in India.

1935: Production of high-tensile steel commenced.

1937 Research and Control Laboratory opened. Retiring Gratuity introduced.

December 28, 1937: Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Mumbai) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate established by earlier generations of his family.

1938: J R D Tata succeeds Sir N B Saklatvala as the Chairman of the company. Sir Jehangir Ghandy takes over as the first Indian General Manager. Dr Rajendra Prasad and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru gave awards on labour dispute. Bihar Labour enquiry Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajendra Prasad visit Jamshedpur.

1939-40: The new 100-Tonne Blast Furnace started operation.

1941-42: Manufacture of special steels for war purpose developed. A Benzol plant and the Wheel Tyre and Axle Plant the first of its kind in the country went into operation.

1942-43 : Armour plates and various alloy steels produced.

1947: Personnel Department started.

1951-52: Tata Steel launches a Modernisation and Expansion Programme. Production linked incentive bonus scheme introduced.

1953-54: Agreement signed with Kaiser engineers for Two-Million Tonne Expansion Programme. Sir Ardeshir Dalal T. B. Hospital opened.

1956: Agreement between management and Tata Workers’ Union signed in January. Supplemental agreement signed in August. Agreement with Didier- Werke A.G. of Germany for installing a refractory plant at Belpahar.

1956: Jublee park was a gift by Tata Steel to the citizens of Jamshedpur on the completion of its 50 years. It was inaugurated by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India in 1956. This 200 acre (0.8 km²) park has a special rose garden and a lake. It has an avenue of specially trimmed Ashok trees and fountains and water cascades which run during the night. It is a favourite with morning walkers, joggers, cyclists & anglers. There are also a few recreational areas inside or attached to Jubilee park.

1958: The Golden Jubilee celebrations presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. Ferro-Manganese plant commences production at Joda, in April. All units of Two-Million Ton project commissioned. Jubilee Park dedicated to the nation. Commemorative postage stamp of Jamsetji Tata issued. Community and social welfare schemes commenced.

1959: New agreement is signed in February with the Tata Workers’ Union Jamshedpur.

1960: A managing agency’s agreement between Tata Steel and Tata Industries Pvt. Limited is renewed for ten years.

1961: An industrial license is obtained by Tata Steel for an Alloy-Steel project in July.
1962: Tata-Robins-Frazer formed in collaboration with Hewitt-Robins Inc., USA and Frazer & Chalmers Engineering Works of GEC, UK. Alloy steel license of Tata Steel is revoked by Government. Interim relief recommended by Central Wage Board for Iron and Steel industries.

1963: The government approves in principle expansion by One-Million tonnes during the 4th Plan.

1965: The Steel Ministry agrees to expansion to 4-Million Ingot tonnes with a Strip Mill.

1967: Tata Steel defers consideration of Alloy-Steel plant.

1968: Tata Yodogawa Limited, a new company to undertake the manufacture of steel mill rolls was incorporated.

1974 Amalgamation with West Bokaro Limited for coal mine operations.

1978-79 Five-year Rural Development programme for upliftment of the villagers around Jamshedpur taken up.

1980: First Social Audit Committee Report submitted.

1981: In 1981, Ratan was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group's other holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses.

1982-83: Basic Oxygen Furnace Shop - LD1 inaugurated.
1984-85: JRD Tata becomes Chairman Emeritus after guiding Tata Steel as Chairman for 46 years. Russi Mody takes over as new Chairman. Merger of the Indian tube company with Tata Steel.

1986; Started an export cell which co-ordinated the Company’s growing exports.

1987: Tata Football Academy (TFA) - The Academy was started in 1987 to nurture budding Indian footballers in a scientific way and raise the overall standard of Indian football. Human Resources Department restructured.

1989: Pension Scheme introduced.

1991: In 1991, Mr Ratan N Tata took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock Market. Dr JJ Irani becomes Managing Director.

1992-1993 The new One-million ton capacity "G" Blast Furnace was commissioned. The Bearings Division at Kharagpur produced 7.5 million number - 34% increase over previous year. The energy conservation drive received a big boost with commissioning of the new fuel-efficient Blast Furnance incorporating state-of-the-art technology.

1993-94: JRD Tata passes away in Geneva on 29th November, 1993 at the age of 89. Several divisions of the Company received ISO-9000 certification. The centre-piece of the Company’s Modernisation Programme, viz. The one-million-tonne per annum Hot strip Mill was commissioned. The first Slab Caster in operation. Cement Division with units at Sonadih and Jojobera starts production.

1994-95: The third phase of the Modernisation Programme completed. Stamp-charged batteries 6 & 7 start production. Employees Family Benefit scheme introduced.

1995-96: The aggregate production of cement from the company’s plant at Sonadih and Jojobera crossed the 1 million tonne mark. With the laying of the foundation stone by the Prime Minister of India, Mr PV Narasimha Rao, Tata Steel has set the ball rolling for its new 10 million tonnes integrated steel plant at Gopalpur in Orissa.

1996-97: The Company sold the 67.5 MW Power Plant, under construction at Jojobera, put under its earlier Modernisation Programme-Phase III, to Tata Electric Companies for a total consideration of Rs. 300 crore. Received Prime Minister’s trophy for the Best Integrated Steel Plant for the year 1995-96. Dr JJ Irani was conferred an Honorary Knighthood by the Queen of Great Britain.

1998: In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica.

January 26, 2000 Mr. Tata was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan on 26th January 2000, on the occasion of the 50th Republic Day of India.

2000: In the year 2000, the company was recognised as the world's lowest-cost producer of steel.

2004: The city won international acclaim when it was selected for the 2004 Global Compact City award from the UN in India, beating other contenders such as Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh, amongst others. A true testimony indeed to its robust infrastructure, cosmopolitan outlook and strong industry.

2005: The company was also recognised as the world's best steel producer by World Steel Dynamics in 2005.

January 31 2007: On January 31 2007 Tata Steel won their bid for Corus after offering 608p per share, valuing Corus at £6.7 bn ($11.3bn); as a result and pending acceptance and completion of the takeover, the joining of the two will create the fifth largest steel company in the world.

History of Jamshedpur

The original name of Jamshedpur was Sakchi. In 1919, Sakchi was renamed as Jamshedpur in tribute to Tata Steel's Founder Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata. The Railway station at Jamshedpur is known as Tatanagar. Jamshedpur is India's first cosmopolitan and planned industrial city. It is a model of harmonious coexistence of industry and environment, with acres of verdant parks and gardens dotting the city and providing bucolic sanctuaries from the pressure of everyday life.

While building this beautiful city, Jamshetji Tata had said ...

"Be Sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens; reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks; earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches."

How it all started?

The Road to Sakchi Began in Pittsburgh ...

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Jamshedji Tata went to Pittsburgh and asked geologist Charles Page Perin to help him find the site to build his dream - India’s first steel plant. The search for a site rich in iron, coal, limestone and water began in April 1904 in today’s Madhya Pradesh. The intrepid hunters were C M Weld, Dorab Tata and Shapurji Saklatvala. It took nearly three years of painstaking prospecting across vast stretches of inhospitable terrain for Dame Fortune to smile. And smile she did, near a village called Sakchi(now part of Tatanagar), on the densely forested stretches of the Chhota Nagpur plateau.

The hunt was over. But a greater adventure was yet to begin. The task was awesome. Building a steel plant was a titanic enterprise. And so was the Steel City. But Jamshedji’s blueprint was clear. It looked beyond a mere row of workers hutments. He insisted upon building all the comforts and conveniences a city could provide.

The Picture on the right side shows the Kalimati railway station as it was in those days which was later renamed Tatanagar. People engaged in the gigantic task of building often had to encounter bears and elephants whose legitimate territory they were usurping. According to one story the same station was the maternity ward for a bear who delivered her cub in the station master's room.

Jamshedpur is bounded by the Subarnrekha river on the north, the Kharkai river on the west, the Bengal-Nagpur Railway in the south, and the Tata Steel Works and other companies on the east. Thus the city has a well defined boundary.

Tata Steel treated this well defined area as one unit from Town Planning point of view and developed the city along with the Steel Works. The credit of what the city is today goes entirely to Tata Steel.