~ Prize money raised to Rs. 5 million from Rs 2 million
Top names in the field include Mukesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Gurki Shergill, Shamim Khan,
Vijay Kumar, Gaurav Ghei ~

The 9th Tata Open Golf is set to roll out at Jamshedpur from 18th to 21st November, 2010. The five day event will be hosted at Beldih and Golmuri golf courses. The event is being held under the aegis of Aircel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI); the fifth time in series. The Pro-Am will be played on 17th November. The prize money for the event has been raised to Rs. 5 million from Rs 2 million.

The conference was addressed today by Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel; Mr Uttam Mundy, Mr Bushen L Raina, Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel; Mr Arjun Atwal and Mr Farzaan Heerjee. This year, the winner will receive a prize money of Rs 8,08,250/-, about Rs 4,84,950/- more than the previous year. Adding zing to tournament, Mr Arjun Atwal, an Indian professional player and winner of the US based PGA tour, will be present at the tournament this year. On reaching Jamshedpur, Mr Atwal met the cadets of different sports discipline at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.

The strong line-up of professionals at the event will include the likes of Mukesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Shamim Khan, Vijay Kumar, Gurki Shergill, Chiragh Kumar, Raju Ali Mollah, Gaurav Ghei, Harmeet Kahlon, Gaurav Pratap Singh, Vishal Singh and Harendra Gupta, to name a few. Pune’s Gurki Shergill will be back to defend his title.

Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said, “Tata Steel takes pride in being an organisation that has a progressive sporting culture deeply rooted in the system. Besides other sports disciplines, the company has proactively supported golf for more than five decades now. Assisted by Tata Steel, the steel city will soon have a 18-hole golf course at Golmuri, Jamshedpur, apart from sustaining two 9-hole courses. The Golf Training Centre at Beldih has made National level players of young children.”

Mr. Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, said, “The increased prize money of Rs. 5 million for the 9th TATA Open is a shot in the arm for Indian professional golf. We thank the TATA Group for their strong and continued support. This tournament has all the makings of an exciting finish since the stakes are higher than ever before and the field boasts of some of the biggest names in Indian professional golf.”

Mr Atwal expressed his happiness on visiting Jamshedpur during the tournament adding that he has several fond memories of the Tata Open tournament as well as the Steel city.

The Tata Open is unique in the sense that it is staged at not one but two golf courses - Beldih and Golmuri. Both these courses are lush green, beautiful and very well-maintained, with the charming Dalma Hills in the background. While the 70-year-old Beldih golf course flaunts long fairways, Golmuri is a smaller, greener boutique course disallowing golfers any room for error.

About Tata Steel and Sports
Established in 1907 as one of 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. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of US$ 23 billion in FY '10, 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 aspirational 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 sports 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.

About PGTI:
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognized official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country as well as give players an opportunity to be involved in decision making for all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises of leading Indian golf professionals such as Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur, SSP Chowrasia, Digvijay Singh, Uttam Singh Mundy, Amritinder Singh and Ranjit Singh. PGTI currently has over 300 members.