Tata Steel holds its 116th Annual General Meeting

~The future holds many opportunities for Tata Steel: Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel Ltd. today held its 116th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders for the Financial Year 2022-23 virtually. Tata Steel Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, in his speech to shareholders, highlighted the Company’s financial performance and future plans.

The Company is focussed on its simplification journey to have a simpler governance structure. Tata Steel continues to scale up its business in India by way of both organic capital expansion and inorganic acquisitions and is steadfast in its objective of achieving its 2030 target of an overall 40 MnTPA capacity in India, Natarajan Chandrasekaran said.

“We endeavour to attain leadership position in the long products segment. In this context, we acquired the Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL). The ramping up of production at NINL to its rated capacity has augmented the capacity. Further, NINL being part of the Kalinganagar eco-system is well positioned to grow synergistically in the future,” he said.

Chairman said that the Company is also investing in circularity and deploying capital towards low-carbon steel making. Tata Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Punjab to establish a state-of-the-art scrap utilising electric arc furnace based long products steel plant in Ludhiana, with a capacity of 0.75 MnTPA. The plant is expected to be operational within two years.

Tata Steel Nederland and Tata Steel UK will continue to focus on expanding steel deliveries, improving yield performance, optimising the commercial mix, and reducing operating costs.

Tata Steel is committed to sustainability and is embedding sustainable business practices across its business operations. The Company has set a target of Net Zero emissions by 2045, as part of the group-wide Project Aalingana, an initiative which is focussed not just on the decarbonisation of businesses and value chains; but also on applying a systemic, circular economy approach to reduce resource use and waste; and preserving and restoring the natural environment.

“The future holds many opportunities for Tata Steel, and the Company is well positioned to capitalise on them. As we embark on the journey, the Management team will continue to focus on customer centricity, technology, digital and sustainability initiatives to enhance the Company’s competitive position in the global steel industry. The Company will be financially prudent while executing its growth strategy so that it can generate sustainable free cash flows and create long-term stakeholder value,” Mr Chandrasekaran said.

On the Corporate Social Responsibility front, the Company continues to engage with communities through its wide-ranging CSR programmes and spent Rs 481 crores in FY2022-23. Tata Steel expanded its focus areas to address post-COVID realities, promote climate convergence, enhance entitlements, and raise awareness among businesses. Tata Steel reached over 3.15 million lives.

From a standalone performance perspective, Tata Steel India delivered revenues of ₹1,29,007 crore, which was in line with the previous year revenues. The Profit after Tax for FY2022-23 was ₹15,495 crore.

In our UK operations, with regard to the GBP 6 Billion British Steel Pension Scheme, we have secured full insurance cover for the pension liabilities. This means that the cashflows for future pension pay-outs to pensioners are guaranteed by the insurer. This has been done at no cash cost to the company and eliminated any future risks to the company from asset-liability mismatches.

For the Financial Year ended March 31, 2023, the Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 3.60 per equity share.