Bhubaneswar: In a strategic collaboration, Tata Steel Foundation (TSF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government’s Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD) to advance inclusive and liveable urban habitats in informal settlements.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi during the state-level celebration of Local Self-Governance Day at the Rail Auditorium here. H&UDD Principal Secretary Usha Padhee, Director Municipal Administration Arindam Dakua and other senior government officials attended the event.
CEO Sourav Roy signed the MoU on behalf of Tata Steel Foundation.
The partnership comes after a successful collaboration, initiated in November 2022. It has already impacted over 1.34 lakh slum households across five municipal corporations through improved tenure security, access to basic services and better living conditions.
“Tata Steel Foundation has been working closely with the Government of Odisha (GoO) to bring a transformative impact on urban habitats across the state, and the MoU signed today marks the commencement of the next phase of this collaboration towards urban slum-dwellers realizing their rights with cities overall being more resilient. This leverages the grounded efforts of our teams over the last few years, and is a reflection of the Tata Steel Foundation commitment to design and implement models of change in Odisha, which bring real and positive change for vulnerable communities while also serving as templates for social impact and public – private collaboration. We remain in gratitude to communities, partners and the Government of Odisha for their belief in us,” said Roy.
As per the new agreement, TSF will continue the state-level Mission Management Unit and deploy dedicated teams across 10 districts and 19 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
It is expected to directly benefit 2.28 lakh slum households. Not only will they have access to social welfare schemes, informal settlements will be transformed into inclusive, resilient urban habitats.
The MoU, effective for a period of four years, reinforces Odisha’s commitment to inclusive urban development by aligning government leadership with corporate implementation capacity.
It aims to strengthen city-level systems, empower community institutions, and translate policy intent into measurable, replicable outcomes.