Photo credit: Michael Henninger
Field notes for the Pulitzer Center
Carved into the jungles of northeastern India, and through the oppressive humidity and daily downpours of monsoon season, Tata Steel's production facility in Jamshedpur churns out roughly 10 million tons of steel each year.
Thousands of workers oversee various stages of purifying, pouring, shaping the molten metal lava before it is cooled and shipped by rail or truck, destined to become auto parts, pipelines, construction materials and other urban infrastructure. And Jamshedpur, a city of just more than 1 million people — mid-sized by Indian standards — remains a company-owned town. Tata Steel maintains the homes, manages the local hospital, and is widening streets and planting trees. It owns several parks, sporting arenas and a zoo with leopards, monkeys and lions.