TATA Steel Ltd today received two awards under the ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar’ for its remarkable contribution spanning several decades in the field of sports.

The company has been awarded under two categories namely, ‘Community Sports Identification and Nurturing of Budding Young Talent’ and ‘Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence’. The award was received by Mr. B Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd, from Her Excellency, Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the President of India, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Muthuraman said “It is a great honour to be here at this momentous occasion and receive the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar on behalf of Tata Steel. Keeping in view our philosophy of improving the quality of life of the communities we serve, Tata Steel has always nurtured the latent sporting talent of the country, especially from the tribal and rural population of India. We strongly believe that India has a huge pool of sports talent and they need be trained and exposed to national and international competitions to build up their capacities.”

The cause of sports promotion and the development of outstanding sportspersons began at Tata Steel from its founding years. It has now become a way of life for the Company. The number of sports disciplines has increased from five to twenty one. A full-fledged Sports Department in Tata Steel was created to consolidate sports management and administration under a single umbrella and followed up with the establishment of sports academies of excellence for Football, Archery and Athletics and infrastructure for 18 other sports disciplines and 4 Feeder Centres in rural areas. This has paid handsome dividends - 5 Padmashrees, 30 Arjuna Awardees, 21 Olympians and 32 Asian Medalists.

Mr. Muthuraman further added, “We have used our know-how and resources in the area of sports to help the tribal and local youth discover their untapped potential, enabling them thereby to gain a foothold in the mainstream of national life and the confidence to compete and excel in national as well as international levels. Most recently, Deepika Kumari, trained at Tata Archery Academy has earned laurels for the nation. This award has infused confidence in us to strive harder in our efforts to spot, train and give to the nation sporting talent which can compete at national levels and represent the country internationally”.

About Tata Steel and Sports

Established in 1907 as Asia's first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel Group is among the top ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of over 28 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of US$ 29 billion in FY '09, has over 80,000 employees across five continents and is a Fortune 500 company. The Group’s vision is to be the world’s steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. In 2008, Tata Steel India became the first integrated steel plant in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize 2008 for excellence in Total Quality Management.

Tata Steel is the only Indian company to invest in world-class facilities, create academies and maintain and manage international level arenas. The cadets of its Tata Football Academy, the nursery for the sport in India, as well as those of the Tata Archery Academy, the only one of its kind for archery, have justified the faith that the Company has in the talent and ability of its youth. Today, a significant part of the Indian Football team, India’s best archers, some of its finest cricketers, athletes, shooters, a Grand Master and several national and international legends have realised their dreams as a result of the support they have received from TATA Steel Sports Academies.