Corus employs almost 7,000 people at three Welsh plants

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said Tata's chairman had given him an "absolute assurance" over the firm's future.

Corus employs almost 7,000 people at three plants in Wales.

Industry watchers have said the plants' new owners were unlikely to make major short term changes, provided Europe maintains its demand for steel.

Tata won the battle to take over Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus after offering 608p per share, ahead of rivals Brazilian firm CSN.

Ratan Tata gave 'absolute assurance,' says Peter Hain

The deal values Corus at �5.75bn ($11.3bn) and creates the world's fifth-largest steel group.

More than 3,000 people are employed at the Corus plant in Port Talbot, nearly 2,000 in Llanwern and 1,000 in Shotton.

Tata has said its takeover would have no immediate impact on jobs in the UK but the steelworkers' union, Community, has called for urgent talks with managers.

Mr Hain issued a statement saying he was confident the takeover meant "a secure future" for the plants and he added "with new investment already pledged for Port Talbot, they will remain critical for future Corus operations".

"I have spoken with Tata chairman Ratan Tata and he has given me an absolute assurance there is a long and healthy future for British steel making, with the Welsh operations continuing being a key part of that future," he added.

All we can hope is Tata take a good long hard look at what we've got in Port Talbot, in Great Britain as a whole, and they give the workforce a chance Steelworker Tony Taylor

But workers at Port Talbot have some "some nervousness and trepidation" about the deal, according to Tony Taylor, a blast furnace worker at the plant, and who is also a local county councillor.

He told BBC Radio Wales some of them considered CSN a better option for the workforce.

He said: "All we can hope is Tata take a good long hard look at what we've got in Port Talbot, in Great Britain as a whole, and they give the workforce a chance.

"They've got a good quality, well disciplined hard working workforce who are producing good quality steel."

The Tata Group - which owns Tetley tea and Daewoo cars - has operations in more than 50 countries.

Any problems might come in the longer term, sort of five years and beyond, when Tata might be thinking of producing iron and steel in India and shipping semi-finished products to the European market Analyst Peter Fish

Peter Fish, managing director of Sheffield-based steel consultants and analysts MEPS International, said Tata might see Corus as a source of technology expertise in its home markets - automobiles, home appliances and the energy sector.

He said: "These are going to be growing sectors in India and so therefore technology transfer is going to be one of the big features of this acquisition.

"Any problems might come in the longer term, sort of five years and beyond, when Tata might be thinking of producing iron and steel in India and shipping semi finished products to the European market."

Kath Ringwald, of Newport Business School, told Radio Wales Tata would have to take account of transportation costs and the quality of steel produced before considering any changes to its steel production in Europe.

She direct workforce cost comparisons - as much as $26 (�13) per hour for a British steel worker and as low as $1 (50p) per hour for a counterpart in India - were not that simple.

She said: "If the European (steel) market did take a serious dip then obviously whoever, whether it was Tata, CSN or Corus on their own, they would have to consider the implications of that."