[Letter to Mr Minoo Masani]

Summary

This three-page correspondence dossier contains a 7 August 1967 letter from Harihar Patel, Orissa’s Minister for Industries, Commerce, Co-operation and Forestry and Fisheries, to M. R. Masani, followed by J. R. D. Tata’s 16 August reply. Patel urges the Tata group to locate its proposed Alloy and Tool Steel Project in Orissa rather than Bihar, arguing that the state’s labour and law-and-order conditions are favourable and that such an investment could mitigate the employment crisis expected from the closure of Tata’s iron-ore mines at Badampahar and Gorumahisani.

Tata’s reply acknowledges Orissa’s more favourable industrial conditions but says that the project has been delayed primarily by recession, financial stringency, reduced retained earnings, rising costs, and devaluation. He also addresses the threatened mine closures, estimating that approximately 2,600 workers may lose employment while emphasizing retrenchment compensation, preferential hiring in other Orissa mines, and the exhaustion of usable ore. The dossier includes a compliments slip dated 25 August 1967; no separate title or publication context is printed.

Key points

• Harihar Patel asks the Tata group to consider Orissa for its proposed Alloy and Tool Steel Project.
• Patel presents Orissa as having favourable labour, law-and-order, mineral, and industrial conditions.
• The proposed project is linked to the expected closure of Tata iron-ore mines in Badampahar and Gorumahisani.
• Patel warns that mine closures could cause mass unemployment affecting roughly 4,000 to 5,000 people.
• J. R. D. Tata attributes the project’s delay to recession, financial constraints, rising costs, reduced retained earnings, and devaluation.
• Tata states that the same financial factors would apply whether the plant were located in Bihar or Orissa.
• Tata estimates that approximately 2,600 workers may lose employment from the mine closures and describes planned mitigation measures.