Aditya Birla Capital Limited wins Best Corporate Promoting Sport at BT-CSR Excellence Awards 2017 for partnering with the GoSports Foundation Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme

The recently held BT-CSR Excellence Awards 2017 for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, held on the 24th of August witnessed Aditya Birla Capital Limited (formerly known as the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group) win as the Best Corporate Promoting Sport at BT-CSR Excellence Awards 2017 for their excellent work in the 'Promotion of Sports' category. The award was validation for their consistent partnership and support of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme, an initiative of the GoSports Foundation.

The Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme was initiated in 2014 towards supporting talented, passionate and goal-driven Indian athletes from Olympic sports who have demonstrated exceptional skill and resolve to achieve significant milestones in their sporting careers; athletes with special stories, whose continued success has the potential to inspire others to excel.

Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), the umbrella brand for all the financial service businesses of the Aditya Birla Group, has been associated with this initiative as a Principal Partner for the past two years. Some of the prominent athletes supported by ABCL through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme include Olympians such as Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics), Srikanth Kidambi (Badminton), Manish Rawat (Race-walking), MR Poovamma (4x400m Relay) and talents such as Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist Supriya Mondal (Swimming), Nishant Kumawat (Archery), Asian Championships Gold medallist Swapna Barman (Heptathlon) and Singapore Open Superseries winner SAI Praneeth (Badminton).

Ecstatic on winning the award, Mr. Ajay Srinivasan – Chief Executive, Aditya Birla Capital Limited said, "Our social vision forms an integral part of our business vision. Our aim is to be an organisation dedicated to bettering lives of those lesser privileged. Sports, we believe, is an important empowerment tool and hence form a key focus area of our CSR efforts. We are delighted that we have been able to empower over 20 talented athletes in their quest for sporting excellence, some of whom have made us proud on a global arena with their achievements. While we are delighted to win BT-CSR Award thatrecognises our efforts, our true success remains entrenched in the success of the athletes we are associated with."

GoSports Foundation Advisory Board member, Rahul Dravid added, “I would like to congratulate Aditya Birla Capital Limited and GoSports Foundation for winning this prestigious award and for forging such a partnership that aims to further sports and sporting talent in India. From supporting 3 athletes transitioning into elite levels of their sporting careers in 2014 to now currently supporting 20 athletes under this programme, we have come a long way. The commitment shown by Aditya Birla Capital Limited in furthering our mission is commendable. I hope athletes make the best of this opportunity as their success will serve to inspire others striving for sporting excellence.”

Ms. Deepthi Bopaiah - Executive Director, GoSports Foundation, who was also present at the ceremony added, “This award is a small milestone in our endeavour of supporting athletes from different disciplines across India to achieve sporting excellence. The programme has been creating impact and growing year on year with the constant support of our Principal Partner, Aditya Birla Capital Limited. We had four Olympians on the programme last year and we are currently working towards increasing India’s participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”