~ Premalata honoured for the daring feat by Managing Director, Tata Steel~
~The oldest Indian and the only person from Jharkhand to scale the highest peak~

Tata Steel felicitated Ms Premlata Agrawal on her return to Jamshedpur after having conquered Mt Everest. Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, honoured Ms Agrawal on behalf of the company, in a grand ceremony today at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Mother of two daughters, one of whom is married, Premlata Agrawal ascended the world's highest peak Mt. Everest thereby becoming the first person from Jharkhand and the oldest Indian woman ever to do so.

Ms Agrawal was presented with a silver salver as a token of appreciation by Mr Nerurkar. During the function, Premlata handed over the Tata Steel flag which she had unfurled atop Mt Everest, to Mr Nerurkar. Congratulating Ms Agrawal, Mr Nerurkar said, “This is a moment of victory for Premlata and for Tata Steel that has supported her at each step to the summit. I extend my heartiest congratulations to her for having achieved this feat. She has set an example for all of us through her grit and determination to conquer Everest. We at Tata Steel will continue to stand by her in all her future endeavours”.

Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel, said “We feel honoured by the fact that within twenty years, Tata Steel’s flag has been unfurled at the top of the highest peak in the world; by ladies on both the occasions.”

Thanking Tata Steel, her mentor Ms Bachendri Pal and family for supporting her all the way, Ms. Premlata stated “My initiation in the field of adventure came by chance, and has, since then, been an uphill journey. Ms Bachendri Pal has been a source of encouragement and inspiration for me. The credit of my victory goes to my sponsors Tata Steel, my mentor Bachendri Pal and my family. Without their support this would not have been possible.”

Also present on the occasion were Heads of companies, members of Citizen’s Advisory Council, senior officials of Tata Steel and others.

Forty five year old Premlata began her preparations to scale the world's tallest peak on May 6 when she went from the base camp at 18,000 feet to Camp 2 at 22,000 feet and then she climbed to C3 (Camp 3 at 23,000ft where she had to go on artificial oxygen). She then reached C4 (Camp 4, South Col 26000 ft) on 19th May, 2011 and took rest before beginning the final climb to the summit. Before conquering world's highest peak, Premlata went on a climbing exercise at 20,300-feet-high Island Peak in the Himalayas, besides going up and down the Everest base camps for over a month to acclimatize herself with the tough conditions and regime.

On prior occasions, Ms Agarwal has proved her mettle as an adventurous lady by participating in several TSAF (Tata Steel Adventure Foundation) expeditions – notable being the Island Peak Expedition in Nepal (20,600 ft) in 2004, the Karakoram Pass (18,300 ft) and Mt. Stok Kangri (20,150 ft) in 2006, the First Indian Women’s Thar Desert Expedition in 2007 which involved a 40 day Camel Safari along the International Border from Bhuj in Gujarat – Rann of Kutch – Thar in Rajasthan, upto Wagah Border in Punjab. These achievements were also recognized as a National Record and found place in the Limca Book of Records.