Tata Steel offers cash prizes, PPOs to winning teams at ‘Steel-o-thon’ challenge

As part of its campus-engagement programme, Tata Steel recently concluded its annual business challenge 2021 for premier B-schools in India. ‘Steel-o-thon’, which saw a grand virtual recently, had nine teams in the final from all the top B-schools in India.

The finalists worked on nine real-life business case studies and provided innovative ideas and solutions. Out of the nine teams, two submitted solutions to the case study on procurement & supply chain (operations), three to the one on marketing & sales, two on human resources and two on corporate communications.

After all the submissions, three teams were declared as top winners for this year’s Steel-o-thon challenge. The winning team was from Xavier School of Management, Bhubaneswar, the first runner-up was the team from IIM Shillong, and two teams were declared as second runners-up from IIM Shillong and Symbiosis Centre Of Management & Human Resource Department, Pune, respectively.

The 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 & IR.

More than 1100 teams submitted their executive summary for the pre-final round. Out of these, 40 teams made it to the pre-final round, and nine finalists emerged from amongst them.

“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,” said Atrayee Sanyal, vice president, HRM, Tata Steel.

This year, the Company witnessed a healthy response to the Steel-o-thon, with more than 5,800 students registering for the annual business challenge competition. “We are delighted to witness record participation in this edition. This is a testimony to the growing popularity of the Steel-a-thon business challenge and its evolution over the last eight years,” said Sanyal.

The winning team received a prize money worth Rs 2,50,000 along with a trophy. The 1st and the 2nd runners-up were presented with cash prizes worth Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 1, 00,000 respectively. These teams 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.

“The platform serves as a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their talent and to learn from their 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,” said Gupta.