Jamshedpur’s elevation to an industrial status under the 74th Amendment has been in the cold storage for over a decade as successive governments have been unwilling to hand over tax collection to a private agency. About 6.5 lakh people live in Tata-controlled Jamshedpur, which was designed by German urban planner Koenisberger with a 40-year perspective. Another 5.4 lakh people live in the neighbouring Mango and Jugsalai notified areas, apart from a spread of 18 villages on both sides of Subarnarekha river that cuts through the city. Together, they loosely form what is called Jamshedpur today.

According to JUSCO chief Sanjiv Paul, the company spends more than Rs 100 crore on municipal services within its notified area. “But revenues from water and electricity tariffs are still too low to meet our operating costs,” he said.

Das’s decision to hire consultancy firm Frischman Prabhu to prepare a city development plan for Jamshedpur and two other cities has also upset the Tata Steel management. “It does not appear to an integrated plan... We are unhappy with it,” said a senor official.

Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology (CEPT), which has been appointed by the Centre to evaluate the Jamshedpur development plan, agrees that the Jamshedpur report, in its current shape, is far from satisfactory. Upset with the Frischman plan, which gives Jamshedpur six multiplexes, a ring road and a museum, the city administration has been told to rework the blueprint. “It’s alright to have a beautiful vision of the city,” says Utpal Sharma, a professor at CEPT who is examining Jamshedpur’s plan. “But it must be able to convert it into a series of financially viable projects.”