To become one of the prime franchises of the ‘Hockey India League’

Lucknow, July 23, 2012: Sahara India Pariwar, a major business conglomerate and the prime promoter & patron of sports in India, has created another milestone today by announcing to become one of the prime franchisee of the ‘Hockey India League’ (HIL), which is to be started by Hockey India. The Hockey India League (HIL) will initially comprise of 6 teams which will play amongst each other (both home and away matches). Sahara India Pariwar, the Lucknow based business conglomerate, will be the owner of the Lucknow franchise. Moreover, by taking up this franchisee, Sahara India Pariwar intends to encourage young talents of this great game of skill and energy, thereby giving them a platform to nurture their skills under the supervision of talented sportsmen.

Speaking on the occasion, ‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker & Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar, said “We are proud to associate ourselves with this great game, which has created legends in the past. By taking up this franchise we are sure that fresh talent will be identified at city and regional level, who in turn will bring laurels to our beloved nation. We are also hopeful, that following our efforts to encourage Hockey, other corporate entities will also come forward to support this league which will eventually benefit the game and its exponents”.

Mr. Narendra Batra, Secretary General, Hockey India, said, “I am grateful to ‘Saharasri’ and Sahara India Pariwar, for again coming forward in support of Hockey. The Group has always come forward and supported the sport of hockey at all times by providing it the much needed support.”

Apart from being sponsor to the Indian Hockey Team, Sahara India Pariwar had also joined hands with Federation Internationale De Hockey (FIH) in 2004, the World’s apex Body for Hockey, and became the 4th Global Partner of the Federation for a period of 3 years. Sahara India Pariwar has felicitated the entire Indian Hockey Team, including both the players and the officials, on numerous occasions when Indian team has registered historic wins including the recent FIH Olympic Qualifiers.

ABOUT SAHARA INDIA PARIWAR
Sahara India Pariwar is a major business conglomerate in India with operations in multiple sectors, including financial services, life insurance, mutual funds, housing finance, infrastructure & housing, print and television news media, entertainment channels, cinema production, consumer merchandise retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, sports, and information technology.