Tata Steel announces the winners of the third edition of QUEERious, a one-of-its-kind competition for LGBTQIA+ students. This competition offers opportunities to young minds from the LGBTQIA+ community to add value and bring their best talent to the corporate world.

QUEERious 3.0 received more than 2,300 registrations, recording a 44% jump over the previous edition. Nearly 50% of the participants were from technical schools, 36% from business schools, and the balance from other specialisations.

As a pioneer in introducing some of the most progressive HR standards in India, Tata Steel designed and rolled out QUEERious in 2022 with the aim of reaching out to graduate and post-graduate students from the LGBTQIA+ community.

The three-round competition that kicked off in the last week of July this year, culminated in the Grand Finale held in Jamshedpur on August 30, 2024, in the presence of senior leadership of Tata Steel, including Chaitanya Bhanu, Vice President, Operations, Tata Steel Jamshedpur, Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management and Jaya Singh Panda, Chief, Learning & Development and Chief Diversity Officer.

Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “The growing number of student registrations and their enthusiastic participation in QUEERious is a testament to the success of this unique programme we have created for students from the LGBTQIA+ community. This also keeps all of us in Tata Steel motivated to do more and work harder to build a workplace that thrives on diversity, equity and inclusion. Finally, a big shout-out and congratulations to the winners, participants, and the organising team at Tata Steel.”

Team participation was introduced in this edition, and the teams were given the option to choose case studies from three tracks - Business, Technical, and General domains. The top 11 teams, selected after rigorous evaluation, presented their ideas during the Grand Finale. The top 3 teams received cash prizes of ₹50,000, ₹30,000, and ₹20,000, respectively, and were also offered paid internships and pre-placement offers depending on eligibility.

QUEERious programme has been recognised at the Tata Steel Innovista Awards 2024 in the ‘Social Innovations’ category.

In 2024, Tata Steel became the first company in India to integrate transgender employees in mines. So far, around 130 transgender individuals have been onboarded and posted at various locations, including manufacturing, operations and maintenance, mining, and services.

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.

For queries and information

Sarvesh Kumar,
Chief Corporate Communications, Tata Steel,
E-mail : sarvesh.kumar@tatasteel.com

About Tata Steel

• Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonnes per annum.
• It is one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world.
• The group recorded a consolidated turnover of around US$27.7 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2024.
• A Great Place to Work-Certified^TM organisation, Tata Steel Limited, together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 78,000.
• Tata Steel has announced its major sustainability objectives including Net Zero by 2045.
• The Company has been on a multi-year digital-enabled business transformation journey intending to be the leader in ‘Digital Steel making’. The Company has received the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar, and IJmuiden Plants. Tata Steel has also been recognised with the ‘Digital Enterprise of India – Steel’ Award 2024 by Economic Times CIO.
• Tata Steel aspires to have a 20% diverse workforce by 2025. The Company has been recognised with the World Economic Forum’s Global Diversity Equity & Inclusion Lighthouse 2023.
• The Company has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked among the top 10 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016.
• Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur Plant is India’s first site to receive ResponsibleSteel^TM Certification. Subsequently, its Kalinganagar and Meramandali plants have also received the certification. In India, Tata Steel now has more than 90% of its steel production from ResponsibleSteel^TM certified sites.
• Received Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17, 2024 Steel Sustainability Champion recognition from worldsteel for seven years in a row, 2023 Climate Change Leadership Award by CDP, Top performer in Iron and Steel sector in Dun & Bradstreet's India's top 500 companies 2022, Ranked as the 2023 most valuable Mining and Metals brand in India by Brand Finance, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2021 from Ethisphere Institute, and ‘Best Corporate for Promotion of Sports’ recognition at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2024.
• Received the 2023 Global ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) Award of Distinction at the RIMS ERM Conference 2023, ‘Masters of Risk’ - Metals & Mining Sector recognition at The India Risk Management Awards for the eighth consecutive year, and ICSI Business Responsibility and Sustainability Award 2023 for its first Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR), Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 from ICAI, among several others.

Photographs: Management and Plant facilities

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Website: www.tatasteel.com and www.wealsomaketomorrow.com

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