Tata Steel Ltd has been awarded the coveted Golden Peacock Global Award for corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the year 2009.

Antonio Castro Guerra, deputy minister of economy and innovation in Portugal, presented the award during the opening ceremony of the 4th global conference on social responsibility in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Claudia Esteves, country manager, Corus International Portugal, collected the award on behalf of Tata Steel, a company release said.

The Golden Peacock Awards jury under the co-chairmanship of Ola Ullsten, former prime minister of Sweden and Justice P N Bhagwati, former chief justice of India and member of the UN Human Rights Commission, selected the winner.

The award is based on a company's commitment to ethical business behaviour to economic development and to improving the quality of life of employees and their families, as well as to engagement with local communities and society at large, the release said.

This is the first time that Tata Steel has won the international Golden Peacock Award for CSR, though in 2002 it won the Golden Peacock Award for CSR and Excellence in Corporate Governance among large companies in India.

India's first integrated private-sector steelmaker, Tata Steel has been in existence for just over a century, during which the company has ascribed its ability to continue in operation to the care and attention it gives to the lives and well-being of its employees and communities.

Tata Steel founder JN Tata believed that the community is not just another stakeholder in any free business enterprise, but is in fact its backbone. Tata Steel's story is the story of an enterprise whose growth has come about not only because of its performance but also through its initiatives focusing on the triple bottom line of financial, social and environmental progress.

"We do not claim to be more unselfish, more generous and more philanthropic than others. But we think we started on sound and straightforward business principals, considering the interests of the stakeholders our own, and the health and welfare of our employees the sure foundation of our success." the release said quoting JN Tata.

''The notion of social stewardship is integral to the company's business endeavours in the areas where it operates. From policies on corporate accountability, drugs and alcohol, and HIV prevention, to a code of conduct that extends to its stakeholders, ethics and responsibility are interwoven in the daily course of Tata Steel's business. CSR is an integral component of Tata Steel's business strategy, and constitutes one of the company's key enterprise processes,'' the release said.

''Tata Steel aims to create a favourable social environment in its areas of operation by improving health, education and economic well-being, as well as nurturing young talent in sports. The Company's CSR philosophy is put into practice not only in the city of Jamshedpur, but also in its neighbouring districts, as well as in more than 800 villages in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh,'' it added.