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Tata Style Philanthropy

March 9, 2011 4 Comments

Here is something I found while surfing today.I found it here http://trak.in/tags/business/2007/06/26/this-is-what-lakshmi-mittal-has-to-say-about-his-competitor/ .The blogger believes the words originate from LN Mittal.In which case it would be high praise indeed for the Tatas from a competitor.Even if the note is authored by someone else it doesn’t detract from the fact that Tata Style Philanthropy is worthy of respect and well worth emulating.The picture above shows Jamshedpur.

“Most of us know Lakshmi Mittal to be the richest person in United Kingdom. We also know him as a Steel Industry Baron who took over Arcelor against all odds. However, more than money and business, he is a great human being and never fails to give credit where it is due, even if it means his own biggest rival.

Here is a note written by Lakshmi Mittal after his recent visit to TISCO: (It is long, but well worth the read)

‘I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people like Narayanamurthy (mentor of Infosys) and his ilk. It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has kept alive the legacy of perhaps India’s finest industrialist J.N. Tata. Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tata’s but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tata’s is unquestionably Ratan.I was amazed to see the extent of corporate philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country. Read more of this post

Filed under Philanthropy Tagged with AB Vajpayee, Arcelor, Corporate Philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, Crorepati, feel good, gender equality, House of Tatas, IIM, India Shining, Infosys, Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata, Jamshedpur, JRD Tata, LK Advani, LN Mittal, Millionaire, Murli Manohar Joshi, Narayana Murthy, nation building, nationalism, Naxalites, Philanthropy, Pipal, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011, Ratan Tata, Russi Mody, Sai Baba, Santhal Tribals, Santhali, Tata Steel, TISCO, UN Global Compact City, Wipro, Xavier Institute of Tribal Education

Cold Steel

February 18, 2011 4 Comments

wealthymatters.com

‘Cold Steel’ is a mesmerising read.It is a narration of the takeover battle waged by Lakshmi Narayan Mittal against the management of Arcelor to emerge as the Emperor of Steel.

In 2006, the two largest steel-producers in the world-Arcelor and Mittal Steel, are in the middle of a bitter battle for total market domination

At first Lakshmi Mittal proposes a friendly merger with rival Arcelor, a pan-European company whose interested parties include the governments of Spain, Luxembourg and Belgium.

Arcelor’s mercurial CEO, Frenchman Guy Dollé, firmly refuses,using intemperate language.To quote,“The answer is clearly no…There are two categories of steel. There is premium-quality steel and there is commodity steel. It’s like, there’s perfume, that Arcelor specialises in, and then there’s a sort of eau de cologne which is Mittal’s domain… a lot more technology and grey matter goes into each tonne we sell.” ….. “Part of Mittal’s offer consists, if you’ll excuse the expression, of monnaie de singe.”(literally meaning “monkey money” or “funny money” or tainted money).These same words come back to haunt him later.

The refusal sets the scene for a massive hostile takeover involving billions of dollars of finance and government and shareholder manoeuvring. The corporate battle that ensues takes on epic proportions and becomes one of the world’s biggest and most hard-fought industry takeovers of recent years. It sends shockwaves through the political corridors of Europe, excites the world’s financial markets, enriches thirty hedge funds and transformes the global steel industry.The participants come from many different continents and include six billionaires, many of the world’s top investment bankers (interestingly with two brothers, pitted against each other, one working for Goldman Sachs and the other for Morgan Stanley),top law firms and public relations outfits , presidents , prime ministers and politicians occupying the highest positions in the current and emerging superpowers. Read more of this post