Tata Steel prepares for blue-collar job transitions as iron ore lease expiry nears

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: With its iron ore mining leases in Jharkhand and Odisha set to expire by 2030, Tata Steel is preparing for a future that could see fewer permanent workers.The company has slowed hiring of permanent blue-collar workers over the past two years and is sensitizing its existing workforce and unions to a potential transition, including the possibility of moving to a new mine owner.“Tata Steel will see its number of permanent workers transition after 2030 as some of its captive iron ore mining leases come up for expiry,” Atrayee Sanyal, chief people officer at Tata Steel Group told Mint in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Bombay House in Mumbai.At the end of FY25, Tata Steel’s permanent blue-collar workforce stood at 31,794, down by 585 workers compared to FY24, according to the company.Sanyal outlined three possible scenarios for the workforce, depending on the outcome of mandatory auctions for the mines under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. If Tata Steel retains the leases, there will be “no impact on workers”.

If it fails to secure them, "the number of workers will transit with the mines" to the new leaseholder. In the third scenario, “where only some mines are retained, a portion of the workers will continue with the company”.“We have also sensitized our unionized workforce to the situation, as there is a possibility that we may lose some mining leases and may not be able to retain all of them,” Sanyal said.