The water tariff dispute that has been going on for more than three decades between the Jharkhand government and Tata Steel has finally ended. Now an agreement has been reached between both the parties in this matter which was going on in the court for a long time. Tata Steel has decided to pay Rs 55.94 crore as outstanding water charges to the state government. The company will pay this entire amount as soon as possible in the current financial year 2026-27.
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This case was related to the fee charged for the use of water from the Subarnarekha Multipurpose Project. Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited, (now known as Tata Steel) along with its shareholder Arun Narayan Singh had approached the court challenging this demand in the year 1993. At that time, the Irrigation Department of Bihar Government and the officials associated with the project were the defendants in this case.
Jharkhand High Court took initiative towards resolving the dispute. During the hearing on September 2, the court had suggested to resolve the matter through negotiations between the two parties. Following this, the state water resources department constituted an arbitration committee on September 28, Tata Steel also appointed its representatives in the committee.
The committee meeting was held on 15 October at Jal Bhawan, Ranchi. It became clear that other disputes related to water charges from July 1, 1998 to March 31, 2023 have already been settled on the basis of the High Court's decision of June 28, 2024. There was only an old outstanding balance of Rs 55.9425 crore.
To end the dispute completely, Tata Steel voluntarily offered to pay the entire amount, which was accepted by the state government. After the agreement of both the parties, the division bench of High Court Chief Justice MS Sonak and Justice Manoj Prasad closed the petition. With this decision, the legal chapter of the 33 year old dispute has come to an end.