Amidst growing popularity of the racquet sport in the city with every household taking up badminton either as a hobby or profession, Tata Steel and Jharkhand Badminton Association (JBA) have come together to jointly promote badminton to a greater height in the state.

Tata Steel Sports Division Badminton Development & Advisory Committee has been formed to take forward the initiative. The committee will work for the development of badminton as a sport at Tata Steel’s Badminton Training Center and Mohan Ahuja Badminton Stadium. This also includes providing the best-in-class infrastructure for training and organising district, state, national and international badminton tournaments.

Badminton is by some estimates, the most widely played sport in the world after soccer. Its popularity in the city has grown manifold. 

Addressing a press meet at JRD Tata sports complex, Chanakya Chaudhary, vice president, corporate services, Tata Steel said: “Sports is a way of life at Tata Steel and our partnership with JBA is yet another step that demonstrates this. Besides other benefits, the budding players will not only get the best infrastructure but also the best coaches.”

He said that a committee has been formed to explore possibilities to develop Mohan Ahuja Badminton Stadium as a world class facility. “ We want to develop such a facility so that people of all ages can play the game and take it forward,” said the vice president.  

While extending his heartfelt gratitude to Tata Steel, Prabhakar Rao, secretary of JBA said: “This is a historic moment for all of us today as we enter into this partnership. Mohan Ahuja Stadium is being handed over to Tata Steel for building a state-of-the-art badminton facility. JBA along with Tata Steel will do whatever is best for keen sports lovers of Jamshedpur.”

Farzan Heerjee, chief protocol and sports, Tata Steel and chairman of the Tata Steel Sports Division Badminton Development & Advisory Committee said: “The past is behind us and together we will progress towards the betterment of badminton.”

Tata Steel and JBA have come together to mutually work out an amicable solution for the greater benefit of the sport of badminton and make the state of Jharkhand a cradle for creating world class badminton players. In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Tata Steel and the Jharkhand Badminton Association on January 26, 2022. The MOU will pave way for settlement and compromise of all pending litigations between Tata Steel and the Association.