The United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, yesterday held a closed-door meeting with the top brass of Tata Group.
The meeting coincided with a news by Bloomberg that companies, including Tata Steel, may leave the UK as climate-protection policies boost electricity and natural-gas costs.
Quoting a report of the London-based Energy-Intensive Users Group and Britain’s Trades Union Congress, Bloomberg said factories would pay 18 per cent to 141 per cent more for gas, electricity and carbon-reduction programmes by 2020, adding about £7 million ($11 million) to the bill for a typical large energy consumer.
“Many of the taxes and costs identified in this report are UK-specific and will reduce the competitiveness of Corus’ British operations,” Kirby Adams , managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Steel Europe, said in an e-mailed statement. Corus, Britain’s largest steel manufacturer, is part of Tata Steel Group. Tata Group’s plan for the two British brands — Jaguar and Land Rover — was reportedly discussed during the meeting. The UK Consulate confirmed that Osborne met top management officials of Tata Group. Sources at Tata Group declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Osborne launched Vodafone’s new solar-powered mobile handset and later attended a dinner hosted by Godrej Group. He also met Anil Ambani yesterday. Today, Osborne rang the opening bell at the Bombay Stock Exchange and attended breakfast hosted by the Bombay Stock Exchange Chairman, S Ramadorai. The visiting UK Chancellor is expected to have a one-to-one meeting with Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.