SBI and JFC enter into a partnership for promoting football in the country

State Bank India (SBI) and Jamshedpur Football Club (JFC) enter into a partnership for promoting football in the country

· Bank takes a giant step in endorsing the game of football in India

· Bank becomes one of the principal sponsors of the JFC

Mumbai, November 16, 2021: With an aim to support and promote Indian football, the country’s largest lender, SBI, has entered into a strategic partnership with JFC. The bank signed a landmark agreement with the JFC - making this a first major endeavour by SBI in the game of football. With this partnership, SBI will be one of the principal sponsors of the JFC.

The partnership was announced in the presence of Ashwani Bhatia, MD, SBI, TV Narendran, MD & CEO, Tata Steel, B. Raghavendra Rao, DMD, SBI, Chanakya Chaudhary, Chairman, JFC and Vice President Corporate Services, Tata Steel along with other senior officers from SBI, JFC and Tata Steel.

Mr. Ashwani Bhatia, MD, SBI said, “India has a rich football history and it is a matter of time that India enters the big stage of football. There have been rapid strides in Indian football over the past decade, especially with the advent of the Indian Super League. Tata Steel has been at the forefront of promoting football and has continuously produced champion players over the past three decades via the Tata Football Academy. JFC is a step ahead in the same direction and the packed stands, every year, at the JRD Tata Sports complex speak volumes of the popularity of football amongst its legion of fans. Not just that, but, JFC has done incredible work in the grassroots, youth football and coach education, all the while engaging with these fans. We also have a long-standing relationship with Tata Steel and the Tata Group and this partnership will help us to promote sports and more specifically football. These reasons made our decision very simple to partner with JFC, one of the top professional football clubs of India.”

“We look forward to work with them and wish Coach Owen Coyle and the players all the very best for the current season. The steps have been in the right direction over the past few years and JFC has the potential to become one of the top clubs in Asia and the world,” he added.

Commenting further on the partnership, Mr. TV Narendran, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel, remarked: “We are delighted to have SBI as one of the principal sponsors of the JFC. We hope to work with SBI in various capacities and form a great association for years to come. I am sure that this partnership will help create great value for our ISL senior and youth teams, fan base and coaches and set benchmarks in football .”

Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary, JFC Chairman and Vice President Corporate Services, Tata Steel said, “Over the years, JFC has put in massive efforts and strides in community engagement. Our matches at the JRD Tata Sports Complex achieves the highest average attendance in the ISL. Our grassroots programme has engaged thousands of kids in Jharkhand coupled with Tata Steel’s rich history with youth development in football via the Tata Football Academy. Our association with SBI is very encouraging as we aim to achieve success on and off the pitch. We welcome SBI as our sponsor and look forward to our long association.”

The iconic JFC match jersey will now have SBI logo on the back side. The two brands will also actively engage with fans via the first team and also during the broadcast of Indian Super League (ISL). The interaction with fans will continue on the digital platforms of SBI and JFC as well.

About State Bank of India (SBI)

SBI is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It is also the largest mortgage lender in the country which has so far fulfilled the home buying dreams of 30 lakh Indian families. The home loan portfolio of the bank has crossed the milestone of Rs. 5 lakh crore. As on September 30, 2021, the bank has a deposit base of over Rs. 38 lakh crore with CASA ratio of 46.24% and advances of more than Rs. 27 lakh crore. SBI commands a market share of nearly 35% and about 28% in home loans and auto loans segment respectively. SBI has the largest network of 22,230 branches and 64,122 ATMs / CDMs in India with 70,786 BC outlets. The number of customers using internet banking and mobile banking stand at 94.4 million and close to 21 million respectively. The integrated digital and lifestyle platform – YONO SBI, has around 43 million registered users, which witnesses 12 million logins per day. Accelerating the digital agenda, in excess of 27,000 new digital savings bank accounts were opened per day in the quarter ended September 2021. In terms of digital lending, the bank disbursed personal loans worth Rs. 43,000 crore through the YONO mobile app till Q2 of FY22. SBI also has the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter amongst all banks worldwide.

To know more about SBI, log on to https://www.sbi.co.in.

About Jamshedpur Football Club (JFC)

JFC was incorporated in 2017 and is a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited. The club plays in the top tier of India’s football fraternity, the Indian Super League (ISL), with the vision of producing top players for both the club and the country and developing the community it works with. Over the years, JFC has the highest average attendance in ISL since its inception in 2017 (average of 20,508 in 3 seasons).

JFC comes with robust youth development, grassroots and coach education programmes, wherein it has achieved immense success and engagement. The club has set up 9 football schools in Jamshedpur with over 800 children in participation and another 5,000+ engaged by means of football festivals across the state of Jharkhand. The programme has also seen a collaborative effort with Tata Steel Foundation’s 25 Football Training Centres in the Kolhan Region of Jharkhand, where over 2,500 young enthusiasts are trained regularly. With the club’s commitment to promote football in the region, it has also groomed 200 coaches through various training programmes.

To know more about JFC, log on to https://www.fcjamshedpur.com

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 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 US $21.06 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

A Great Place to Work-CertifiedTM organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked amongst top 5 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016. Besides being a member of ResponsibleSteelTM and worldsteel’s Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards and recognitions including the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar and IJmuiden Plants, and Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17. The Company, ranked as India’s most valuable Metals & Mining brand by Brand Finance, featured amongst CII Top 25 innovative Indian Companies in 2020, received rating of ‘A-‘ (leadership band) from CDP for its Climate Change disclosure and Supply Chain disclosure, Steel Sustainability Champion 2020 recognition from worldsteel, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2021 from Ethisphere Institute, Best Risk Management Framework & Systems Award (2020) from CNBC TV-18, and Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 from ICAI, among several others.

To know more, visit www.tatasteel.comand www.wealsomaketomorrow.com.