Tata accused of 'gross hypocrisy' over plan to open furnace in India

The owner of the Port Talbot steelworks has been accused of “gross hypocrisy” as it prepares to open a new blast furnace in India, while blaming carbon emissions for its decision to close two sites in south Wales, costing thousands of jobs.

- Alex Lawson

Tata announced last week that up to 2,800 jobs would be cut under plans to close Port Talbot’s two huge blast furnaces and replace them with an electric arc furnace (EAF).

However, union bosses told the Guardian the decision was at odds with a project to build a huge new blast furnace at Tata’s Kalinganagar industrial complex in eastern India, which is entering its closing stages.

The job cuts have inflamed tensions between unions and the government, which steelworkers argue should have offered greater financial aid to the company to support domestic manufacturing. Yesterday, workers gathered in Westminster to protest against the decision, while Labour vowed to force a vote on the future of the British steel industry.

In announcing the redundancies last week, the company said that the overhaul would “secure most of Tata Steel UK’s existing product capability and maintain the country’s self-sufficiency in steelmaking, while also reducing Tata Steel UK’s CO 2 emissions by 5 m tonnes per year and overall UK country emissions by about 1.5%”.