PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Mumbai, Oct 12: Tata Steel today announced the Season 8 winners of its much-awaited Annual Business Challenge for premier B-Schools in India, ‘Steel-a-thon’.
The programme had culminated with the virtual grand finale held on October 7, where a total of nine teams, the national finalists, presented their business case solutions to a jury comprising senior management of Tata Steel led by Peeyush Gupta, Vice- President, Supply Chain, Praveen Shrivastava, Chief of Marketing & Sales (Branded, Products & Retail), Flat Products, and Zubin Palia, Chief Group HR.
Steel-a-thon 2021 witnessed a record participation, as a total of over 5,800 students registered in teams of three students each, from around 27 premier B-schools in India.
Over 1170 teams submitted the executive summary for the pre-finale. Post the rigorous examination of the submissions, 40 teams got selected for the pre-finale round. Finally, 9 teams made it to the finale.
In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘Steel-a-thon’ culminated in a virtual grand finale where top 9 teams – the National Finalists, put on display an inspiring show of determination, passion, and innovative ideas.
The teams competed to prove their mettle and claim the title in addition to the prize money, certificates, and the placement offers by Tata Steel.
The finalists worked on nine real life business cases studies and presented their innovative solutions to the jury.
Out of the nine solutions presented, two teams submitted solutions to case study on Procurement & Supply Chain (Operations), three teams on Marketing & Sales, two on Human Resource and two on Corporate Communications.
Peeyush Gupta, Vice President, Supply Chain, Tata Steel and a jury member, said, “With each passing year, the young aspirational students from leading B-Schools have become more involved with Steel-a-thon. The platform serves as a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their talent and to learn from their fellow peers. Some of the presentations this year were in fact the best of innovation and business thinking. We are excited to welcome the young talent to the steel company and look forward to their engagement in building a better tomorrow.”
Atrayee Sanyal, vice-president, HRM, Tata Steel, said,“We are delighted to witness a record participation in this edition. This is a testimony to the growing popularity of Steel-a-thon business challenge and its evolution over the last eight years. It is heartening to see such a wonderful collaboration amongst brilliant young minds, academia and corporate. I congratulate the winners and express my gratitude to all the participants, Jury and all involved in the making this incredible journey possible.”
The winning team received a prize money worth Rs 2.50 lakh along with a trophy. The 1st and the 2nd runners-up were presented with cash prizes worth Rs 1.50 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively.
They also received PPO (pre-placement offers) and certificates.
The national finalists received Rs 30,000, a certificate and internship opportunities under the company’s Inspire programme.
