August 26, 2007. That’s the day Tata Steel, the world’s sixth-largest steel producer, completes a century of making steel and embarks upon another journey: to become the world’s number 2 by 2012.

Starting in 1907 with 100,000 tonne, production tapered off at around 4 million tonne in 1990 due to licence quota restrictions. After 2004, however, Tata Steel has grown rapidly through overseas acquisitions, starting with NatSteel of Singapore and followed the next year with Millenium Steel of Thailand. With the $12-billion acquisition early this year of Anglo-Dutch Corus, the company was pitchforked into the big league with annual production of 28 million tonne. Its next milestone: 35 million tonne by 2012, to make it the second-largest producer of steel after Arcelor Mittal.

However, the story of Tata Steel is not only about steelmaking. The company embodies the finest in town planning, corporate social responsibility and labour welfare. Indeed, the city of Jamshedpur stands as testament to the vision of the Tatas. Consider this letter written by founder Jamsetji Tata back in 1902 to son Dorabji Tata: “Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick growing variety... “

Tata Steel is a part of this country in more ways than one. Its steel was used to build the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, the Bhakra-Nangal and Damodar Valley projects, the port of Kandla, and the city of Chandigarh. “We think we started on sound and straightforward business principles, considering the interests of the shareholder our own, and the health and welfare of the employees the sure foundation of our prosperity,” Jamsetji Tata once said.

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