Tata Steel has successfully bid for the Jamshedpur franchise in the upcoming season of the coveted Indian Super League (ISL). The steel giant, which has been a pioneer in the development of sports in India, won the bid with Jamshedpur as the host city and will be part of ISL from the next season.

Tata Steel will announce the names of members of the Jamshedpur team along with the squad and coaching staff in due course. The team logo and jersey will also be unveiled soon. ISL organisers, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), had invited bids for 10 cities in India, namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cuttack, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram. Jamshedpur  was awarded to Tata / Tata Steel and it will participate in ISL. The new team will be competing for the coveted title along with franchisees from Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Goa and Guwahati.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said: “This is a momentous occasion for Tata Steel, which has always been a pioneer in the development of sports in the country, especially football. Our entry into the coveted Indian Super League reinforces our commitment to provide a fillip to the development of football in the country. We are extremely excited to have won the bid for our hometown Jamshedpur and will provide the best of facilities for football to prosper in the eastern part of our country”.

The Tata group has a long association with sports, especially football, with the efficacious Tata Football Academy (TFA) in Jamshedpur. TFA has been grooming exceptional players who have brought glory to the nation for the last 30 years. The new team will leverage the state-of-the-art infrastructure at TFA.

Established in Jamshedpur in 1987, the objective of TFA has been to nurture and train budding footballers in the most scientific way to improve the standard of Indian football by producing outstanding players for the Indian National Team. The academy has trained over 200 players, out of whom 135 have represented the country, with 19 of them having lead the national team as Captain across various age groups.

Commenting on the development, Mr Chuni Goswami, former Olympian and Captain of the Indian Football Team and the first Director of TFA, said: Tatas have always been promoters of sports and have contributed a great deal to the cause of sports, be it football, hockey, athletics, etc, at an all-India level. TFA is a first-of-its-kind institution that was set up to groom budding footballers so that they can evolve into good footballers in course of time. I have been very lucky to be associated with TFA since its inception. I am very happy to know that Tatas continue to promote sports in a big way. It is only natural that Tatas are getting associated with ISL”. 

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2017. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $18.12 billion (INR 117,420 crore) in FY17. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 74,000. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2015). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has also been felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2013-14 (received in 2017), Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2016), ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ award from TIME India (2016) and the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from the Ethisphere Institute (2016), IIM Sustainability Award (2015), among several others.

Disclaimer

Statements in this press release describing the Company’s performance may be “forward looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Actual results may differ materially from those directly or indirectly expressed, inferred or implied. Important factors that could make a difference to the Company’s operations include, among others, economic conditions affecting demand/ supply and price conditions in the domestic and overseas markets in which the Company operates, changes in or due to the environment, Government regulations, laws, statutes, judicial pronouncements and/ or other incidental factors.

Kulvin Suri

Chief, Corporate Communications, India & SEA

Tata Steel

E-mail: kulvinsuri@tatasteel.com