~ The month-long rafting expedition ‘Mission Gange’, a joint initiative of TSAF & NMCG to spread awareness on Ganga cleanliness and waste management, begins tomorrow from Haridwar ~

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today, met and interacted with the participants of ‘Mission Gange’, a joint initiative of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) and National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to raise awareness about waste management and Ganga cleanliness through a month-long rafting expedition.

The rafting expedition, involving a team of 40 members, is led by Tata Steel Adventure Foundation Chief Ms. Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. ‘Mission Gange’ team was joined by Tata Steel CEO & MD Mr T V Narendran and Vice President (Corporate Services) Mr Sunil Bhaskaran during the team’s meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister in New Delhi today.

The expedition begins on October 5, 2018 from Haridwar, traversing around 1500 kms. The journey, encompassing eight major towns including Bijnor, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Buxar, will conclude in Patna on October 30, 2018.

"The Ganges has been and will always be much more than a river for India. With a large chunk of the country’s population living in the Ganges basin, the need to keep it clean cannot be overstated. We thank Prime Minister Modi for taking a personal interest in this Mission,” said Mr T V Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel.

“Tata Steel is committed towards creating a cleaner and a better tomorrow. We wish the mission a great success,” he further added.

TSAF Chief and ‘Mission Gange’ expedition leader Ms Bachendri Pal said: “Our expedition is inspired by Government of India’s Namami Gange mission. It is an important step towards cleaning the Ganges, a life-supporting river for millions in our country. The aim of the expedition is to reach out to as many people as possible, increase the awareness on keeping this great river clean and transform this mission into a people’s movement.”

Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga, said: “During the month-long expedition, the team will stop at all major locations and carry out cleaning drives in coordination with NMCG stakeholders like Ganga Vichar Manch, Ganga Praharis, District Ganga Committees, local voluntary organizations and people from all walks of life. Awareness campaigns will be conducted in schools to sensitize students towards Ganga cleaning. Events such as Ganga Chaupal will be conducted along the Ganga to create conversations between stakeholders.”

TSAF has brought together a diverse and industrious team of 40 individuals (20 women and 20 men) including eight mountaineers, who have summited Mt. Everest, and 26 Tata Steel employees. Besides, professionals from backgrounds as diverse as engineering, environmentalists, science etc. are part of the expedition team that is prepared to meet all the challenges that they may encounter during the expedition. The team, during its stay in various towns along the course, will carry out cleanliness drives at Ghats and surrounding areas, visit schools and institutions to create awareness on waste management, pollution in Ganga and climate change.

About Tata Steel Adventure Foundation
Founded by legendary mountaineer Ms Bachendri Pal, first Indian woman to climb Mt Everest on May 23, 1984 Tata Steel Adventure Foundation is an outbound leadership institute which through its wide range of activities aims at developing able leaders for the future through identification of their limits of mental and physical endurance. It allows people from all walks of life and all ages to choose their own metaphor for self-discovery. True to its philosophy of experimental learning, TSAF believes that no classroom is better than nature and no teacher is better than your own will.

In addition to TSAF outbound leadership program, several other courses are conducted by TSAF like horse riding, parasailing, water sports, sport climbing, rock climbing and many others. Each course is a certification course thereby giving a sense of fulfillment and achievement at the end of it.

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, 2018. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $20.41 billion (INR 133,016 crore) in FY18. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel retained Industry Leader position in FY18 and ranked second overall in the DJSI assessment, 2017. The Company has been recognised as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel was felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2014-15 and 2015-16, Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2018) and ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018). The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the sixth time (2018), Steel Sustainability Champions (2017) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2017 & 2018), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2017) as well as 'Asia's Best Integrated Report' award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), 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.