Mumbai: India wrapped up what was the country’s most successful Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou, China, last week, with an unprecedented haul of 107 medals to finish fourth overall. The historic campaign had a few prominent factors behind its success, with JSW Group-led initiatives being among the forefront on that list.
The JSW Group has, for a decade now, been pioneering a sporting movement in India through the JSW Foundation, JSW Sports, and the Inspire Institute of Sport, with a special focus on helping India succeed at the Olympic Games.
Speaking on JSW Group’s holistic contribution to Indian sport and its subsequent impact on India’s performance at the Asian Games, JSW Sports and Inspire Institute of Sport founder Parth Jindal, said, “It gives all of us at the JSW Group immense pride to have played a pivotal part in India’s most successful Asian Games campaign yet. The JSW Group, through its initiatives, has been committed to transforming India into a sporting powerhouse and to see the effort yield consistent results in big-stage competitions is a testament to the work being put in.
“The JSW Foundation, has for years now, been supporting the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), and more recently, the Government of Odisha’s swimming programme. The Inspire Institute of Sport has been our flagship high-performance centre with satellite centres in Himachal, Hisar, Odisha, and Manipur. Some of the biggest names in corporate India have joined hands with us in our movement. The role we have played in India’s success at Hangzhou has only fuelled our desire to succeed in Paris next year.”
The Indian shooters bagged a staggering 22 medals, while the boxers picked five medals – four of those sealing berths at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. India’s swimming contingent, meanwhile, broke six national records while competing in China. The partnership with the NRAI involves supporting the coaches, while extensively aiding their data collection and analysis. With BFI, the Foundation’s support extends to organising and hosting national events, facilitating foreign coaching staff and even arming the Federation with a Performance Director.
In Odisha, the JSW Foundation has initiated an end-to-end programme in conjunction with the Government to culture in aquatics. Currently, the programme is active in 15 different centres, impacting over 5000 children, with the numbers only set to double over the next five years. The programme also involves a team of highly experienced coaches who are working to create a pipeline of talent who will have an impact on high-performance swimming in the near future.
According to JSW Foundation chairperson Sangita Jindal, “India is a nation of aspiring athletes. About a decade ago, there was a significant gap in the training, development & funding opportunities India offered to talented youngsters to pursue a career in sports. Hence, we launched the Sports Excellence Program as our proprietary CSR project to support Indian Olympic athletes. Over the years, we have also launched various interventions across all our direct impact zones to identify and nurture young rural sporting talent. These sporting gems are identified at an early age and our team helps to build their capacity through a holistic programme. They are then taken to Inspire Institute of Sport for further training to shape them for international championships. Through our focus on world-class training infrastructure, coaching and sports science, we are confident of nurturing a new generation of Olympic Sports champions for India.”
The Inspire Institute of Sport had 31 athletes from on its roster represent Team India in China, and 17 from among those returned with medals. (Four gold, eight silver and five bronze). Neeraj Chopra, Avinash Sable, Parul Chaudhary and Men’s 4×400 relay team were among those who won Gold.
The IIS, while spearheaded by the JSW Group, is also supported by close to 30 donors from corporate India, including entities like Citi India, IndusInd Bank, Kotak, Borosil and Gameskraft Foundation. This is in line with the IIS’ vision of assembling corporates to contribute and lead India’s charge to Olympic glory.
“Through our long-standing association with JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), I have witnessed first-hand how programs such as those run by IIS can positively impact our athletes’ performance, their careers across sporting arenas, and their long-term development. Programs such as these certainly raise the bar and encourage the next generation of sportspeople. We are very proud of our athletes from India and the work done by IIS. On behalf of Citi, our best wishes and congratulations to all the participants from India at the Asian Games,” said Citi India CEO Ashu Khullar.
Kotak Mahindra Bank senior EVP and head CSR Himanshu Nivsarkar said, “Kotak Mahindra Bank has funded Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) under CSR Project that trains Indian Boxers and it gives us immense pride that Kotak’s CSR Project with IIS has contributed to put Indian Boxers on the world map. We congratulate all Indian Boxers for their performance at the recently concluded Asian Games 2023 held at Hangzhou, China. We wish all Boxers to train hard to get more medals at Paris Olympics 2024.”
The support the IIS extends its athletes is holistic in the truest sense of the term. In Borosil, the Institute has a food & nutrition partner, and Borosil managing director Shreevar Kheruka, said he was encouraged by the progress Indian sport has made in the recent past. “We are delighted to support the Inspire Institute of Sport as Food & Nutrition Partners, and to see our athletes pick up 17 medals in Hangzhou was a moment of great pride for all of us at Borosil. Over the years we’ve seen a lot of progress in Indian sport, and a lot of credit goes towards the people working behind the scenes at the Institute. We believe the Asian Games is yet another chapter in what will be a very long line of success stories for the IIS.”
