The legend of Charles Page Perin

Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, dreamt of a huge, modern steel plant for India, way back in the 1880s. He was convinced that steel was essential for the development of his beloved country – for the building of railways, buildings, bridges and other important infrastructure. Given his keen interest in this subject, he kept a book full of newspaper cuttings on the mineral resources of India, with every detail of where they could be found.

Most people were skeptical of his dream. Famously, Sir Frederick Upcott, at that time the Chief Commissioner for the Indian Railways, is reported to have sneered at this enterprise, by saying – “Do you mean to say that Tatas propose to make steel rails to British specifications ? Why, I will undertake to eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making.”

But Jamsetji Tata was a determined and persuasive man. He met the British Secretary of State for India, Lord George Hamilton, in the year 1902, and managed to convince him that a steel plant would be very useful for the development of the country. But now a big question faced him – from where would he obtain the expertise required for the manufacture of steel ? India clearly did not possess the capability, so Jamsetji decided that he would get the world’s best expertise to the country. In his heart of hearts, he would have known that this was no easy task, to attract the most qualified global technologists to the heartlands of an underdeveloped nation.

That hardly deterred him, in his voyage for India. He set sail for the USA, home to the world’s finest iron and steel industry of the time, in September 1902.  Eventually, after surveying Alabama, Chattanooga and Chicago, he reached Pittsburgh, famous for its iron and steel industry. There, he was told that if he was prepared to bear a large cost, then the best person qualified to help him start a steel plant in India was Charles Page Perin, an eminent consulting engineer of New York. So Jamsetji travelled to New York, where Perin had a flourishing practice. He was set on meeting Charles Page Perin and attracting him to India, however difficult this task may be.

What happened next ? To see this for ourselves, we now turn to the records of Charles Page Perin, who vividly describes his first encounter with Jamsetji Tata.

“I was poring over some accounts in the office when the door opened, and a stranger in a strange garb entered. He walked in, leaned over my desk, and looked at me fully a minute in silence. Finally, he said in a deep voice, ‘Are you Charles Page Perin ?’. I said, ‘Yes’. He stared at me again silently for a long time. Then slowly he said – ‘I believe I have found the man I have been looking for. Julian Kennedy has written to you that I am going to build a steel plant in India. I want you to come to India with me, to find suitable iron core and coking coal and the necessary fluxes. I want you to take charge as my consulting engineer. Mr. Kennedy will build the steel plant wherever you advise, and I will foot the bill. Will you come to India with me ?

I was dumbfounded, naturally. But you don’t know what character and force radiated from Tata’s face. And kindliness, too. ‘Well’, I said, ‘yes, I will go.’ And I did.

I have reflected on this remarkable story so many times. An unknown Indian merchant attracting the world’s best consulting engineer, from the great city of New York to the jungles of Eastern India, to set up a steel plant in an unknown location, all in his very first encounter. That strength of character and force, which radiated from Jamsetji Tata’s face so powerfully and magnetically that morning, could only have come from Jamsetji’s abiding love for his country. When you love your country so dearly that you are willing to go around the world, searching for the keys to its development, when you are willing to set aside your riches to work unconditionally for its progress, then, I say, the world falls at your feet. There is no greater force on the face of this earth.

Charles Page Perin came to India. Inspired by Jamsetji Tata, he worked most willingly, in places as far flung as the Dhalli and the Rajhara hills. He helped Jamsetji Tata and his sons establish Tata Steel at Sakchi, which was later renamed Jamshedpur. On 16th February, 1912, the first ingot of steel successfully rolled out of the Tata plant. It was steel of the finest quality. In fact, during World War I, Tata Steel supplied significant quantities of steel to help in the Allied War effort.   

By that time, Jamsetji Tata had already sadly passed away. His son, Dorabji Tata, recalled the British Chief Commissioner’s sneering statement, and is reported to have said that if Sir Frederick Upcott had carried out his undertaking, he would have had some “slight indigestion”. Today, more than a century later, Tata Steel stands proud, as one of the finest steel companies the world has ever known.

There is an interesting footnote to this story. Charles Perin’s wife also later accompanied him to India, perhaps encouraged by his description of his new boss, Jamsetji Tata. She was very keen on education. So, to pay tribute to her memory, the first school in Jamshedpur was established in 1915, and named in her honour, as the Mrs. Keoke Monroe Perin Memorial (KMPM) School. Today, Jamshedpur has amongst the highest literacy rates in the country.