Tata Steel has been recognised as the best organisation contributing to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the FICCI India Sports Awards, 2020.
Tata Steel vice-president Chanakya Chaudhary received the award on behalf of the company at the India Sports Awards ceremony that took place on a virtual platform during ‘TURF’ 2020 — 10th Global Sports Summit, on December 8.
Sports, which has been an integral part of the company’s philosophy, was traditionalised by its first chairman Sir Dorabji Tata, who financed India’s first Olympic team to Antwerp, Belgium in 1920.
Tata Steel in India promotes sporting activities through its encouragement to professional sportspersons, amateurs and its own employees.
“At Tata Steel, sports is a way of life. Tata Steel’s association with sports dates back nearly a century and is an integral part of its culture. The local community has always been at the core of the sports activities that Tata Steel supports,” Chaudhary said while receiving the award.
“While sports has served as a unique link between Tata Steel’s business and the community outreach, its role in the company’s culture and identity has grown stronger than ever. Through its sports academies and training centres, the company has helped shape some of India’s iconic sporting talents over the years,” the vice-president said.
“We are humbled with this recognition from India Sports Awards and it also re-affirms our commitment towards the development of sports and athletes,” he added.
Six years ago, Tata Steel started the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, a 25-km run that has a social cause at its heart – supporting the Tata Medical Centre, a cancer hospital in Kolkata. Tata Steel has also organised running events annually in Jamshedpur and Noamundi (in Jharkhand) and Bhubaneswar and Angul (in Odisha). This year, in view of the pandemic, the company organised its first-ever virtual run.