Tatas may control Jamshedpur admin as state gives nod

Jamshedpur, India's first planned city built by Tata group founder Jamshedji Tata, may finally come under administrative control of the Tatas, clearing a decades-old legal cloud over the place where India's first steel mill stands.

- Pavan Burugula Naman

The Jharkhand government last week gave the go-ahead for turning Jamshedpur, a town with a population of 1.69 million, into an industrial township under special provisions of the Indian Constitution, two people aware of the matter said. The Tata group is also in advanced talks with the central government for final approval.

A five-year-old public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court-which has proved to be a hurdle until now-is expected to reach a conclusion by January.

"The discussions are in final stages. The verdict in the PIL is expected by January. The idea is to nominate a municipal council comprising Tata Steel representatives, government nominees and local people in the nominated municipal council," said one of the people cited above.

"For all practical purposes, the Tata group has been providing local civic amenities for the past century, but there were a lot of grey areas legally since the Jharkhand government didn't notify the establishment of the township," he added.

Some locals, however, are also opposed to the Tatas taking over responsibilities of Jamshedpur's civic amenities.

They are keener to have an elected body such as a municipal corporation to supervise local governance.