Season 5 of ‘Women Of Mettle’ Scholarship Programme concludes with a thrilling finale

~ The programme received 950+ registrations from across 50+ premier engineering institutes in India ~

~ Electrical Engineering student Aishwarya Raj from IIEST Shibpur emerged as the winner, Metallurgical Engineering student Mridhula Venkatanarayanan from NIT Trichy secured the first runner-up position, and Mining student Khushboo
Kuntal from IIT ISM Dhanbad bagged the second runner-up slot ~

In its endeavour to promote and induct women into the manufacturing sector, Tata Steel successfully concluded the season 5 of its pioneering scholarship programme ‘Women Of Mettle’. The virtual finale, held on September 13, 2021, witnessed some of the brightest young female candidates from India’s premier engineering institutes display their ingenuity, acumen, and spirited performance.

Aishwarya Raj, an Electrical Engineering student from IIEST Shibpur, emerged as the winner of season 5. While Mridhula Venkatanarayanan, a Metallurgical Engineering student from NIT Trichy, secured the first runner-up position, Khushboo Kuntal, a Mining student from IIT ISM Dhanbad, bagged the second runner-up slot Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “Tata Steel has always believed in creating equal opportunities for all. The scholarship initiative ‘Women Of Mettle’ was conceptualised to attract talented women to a sector which is stereotyped as male dominated for decades. Each of these young minds are a part of this revolutionary journey who will inspire many more in the future to explore jobs in various unconventional fields. I congratulate all the winners and participants and wish them the very best for their careers ahead.”

D. B. Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Raw Materials, Tata Steel and a finale Jury member, said: “Every year we put forth specially curated real life technical problems and it is awe-inspiring to see the enthusiasm from young students who have such innovative and enterprising ideas. Steel as one of the core industries in the country will benefit hugely with equal contributions from women as well. We look forward to enabling many more women of mettle in future through our multiple initiatives and platforms.”

Like last year, this year too, the competition was organised leveraging the virtual platforms in view of the prevailing pandemic situation. The fifth edition received highest-ever entries from 950 plus second year female engineering students from over 50 premier engineering institutes across India, including the IITs, NITs, and the likes. Over the years, the platform has evolved and serves as a stepping stone for women engineers in their journey of crafting a promising career in manufacturing.

As part of the programme, participants are subjected to a rigorous selection procedure that includes a variety of technical hurdles. The candidates work on real life technical challenges and top 10 shortlists work and present their solutions to the esteemed Jury at the grand finale of the competition. Winners are selected based on the presentations and feasibility and quality of the proposed solutions. The top 10 candidates get a scholarship of ₹2,00,000/- in addition

PRESS RELEASE

to an opportunity to pursue a career at Tata Steel. They can join Tata Steel as a Technical Intern, and subsequently receive a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO). The candidates, ranked 11-30, are also given an opportunity for summer internship in the 3rd year of their engineering course.

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the world’s most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $21.06 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

A Great Place to Work-Certified TM organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000.

Tata Steel has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked amongst top 5 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016. Besides being a member of ResponsibleSteel TM and worldsteel’s Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards and recognitions including the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar and IJmuiden Plants, and Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17. The Company, ranked as India’s most valuable Metals & Mining brand by Brand Finance, featured amongst CII Top 25 innovative Indian Companies in 2020, received rating of ‘A-‘ (leadership band) from CDP for its Climate Change disclosure and Supply Chain disclosure, Steel Sustainability Champion 2020 recognition from worldsteel, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2021 from Ethisphere Institute, Best Risk Management Framework & Systems Award (2020) from CNBC TV- 18, and Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 from ICAI, among several others.

To know more, visit www.tatasteel.com and www.wealsomaketomorrow.com.

Sarvesh Kumar
Chief, Corporate Communications
Tata Steel
E-mail: sarvesh.kumar@tatasteel.com