In his blueprint for Jamshedpur, in the form of a letter to his son Sir Dorabji Tata, in 1902, Jamsetji Tata asked him to “Reserve large areas for football, hockey and other sports”.

Sir Dorabji Tata carried forward J N Tata’s vision and it was a tradition started by the Company’s first Chairman, Sir Dorabji Tata, who financed India’s first Olympic team to Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. Since an official Indian Olympics body did not exist at that time, Sir Dorabji personally financed four athletes and two wrestlers for the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. In 1924, he became the first President of the Olympics Association.

A century later, the Company continued this association with archers trained at Tata Archery Academy participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. J R D Tata gave fruition to the Founder’s vision, inculcating sports as an integral part of Tata Steel’s corporate philosophy.

Sports is a way of life at Tata Steel. The Company’s commitment to sports is a result of its vision to take Indian sports ahead and provide budding sportspersons a platform to showcase their talent.

Sports is an integral part of our cultural fabric. The Company has been one of the foremost corporate promoters of Indian sports – having built academies for football, archery, athletics, hockey and sport climbing. Over time, an impressive array of infrastructure, matching international standards to support sports has been built.

The company’s vision of sports is to engage employees, their families and by empowering the community through sporting activities for a healthy lifestyle and well-being and add to company’s brand image through excellence in sports.

In India, Tata Steel spearheads the corporate promotion of sports through its relentless and constant encouragement to professional sportspersons, amateurs and its own employees to pursue sports and excel. The Company has been one of the foremost corporate promoters of Indian sports – having built academies for football, archery, athletics, hockey and sport climbing.

The local community has always been at the core of the sports activities that Tata Steel supports. The Company’s RUN initiatives - Tata Steel Kolkata 25K (TSK 25K), Tata Steel Noamundi Run-a-thon, Tata Steel Jamshedpur Run-a-thon, Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Half Marathon, Tata Steel Meramandali Run-a-thon, bring the communities together and enabling a healthier tomorrow.

The Tata Group has a significant involvement in the field of sports and is actively engaged in promoting and organising the Tata Mumbai Marathon, one of the largest marathons in Asia, held annually in Mumbai and the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10K, that takes place in Bengaluru and attracts both professional and amateur runners from different parts of the world.

From establishing Academies, high performance centres and training centres to creating state-of-the-art sports infrastructure, organising sports tournaments and creating world-class sportspersons, the Company will continue to champion the cause of Sports in India. Jamshedpur’s reputation as the Sports capital of Jharkhand, is a natural follow-up of Tata Steel’s commitment to sports.