Religare Group Pledges Support to Promote Sports and Athletics, Sponsors Champion Olympic Athletes

*Religare Group*, a diversified financial services conglomerate, today announced the Group's commitment to promote sports and athletics in the country and said it will sponsor deserving athletes and sporting institutions. Dr. Saluja was speaking at an event held today in New Delhi to felicitate Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, Tokyo Paralympic badminton silver medallist and world ranking No. 2 player, along with other fellow Olympians Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Yogeshwar Dutt. The event was graced by former HRD minister and BJP veteran, Murli Manohar Joshi.
* Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson, Religare Group*

*Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson of Religare Group* said, "Not only is sports critical for the development of the youth and society but it is an important tool towards nation-building since it fosters national pride and unity. We at Religare have taken a solemn pledge to promote sports and athletics in the country in a meaningful way by sponsoring deserving athletes and sporting institutions. We are proud of our association with these champions including Suhas, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Yogeshwar Dutt. I am confident that the youth of the country will get inspired by these champions and many more names will soon emerge in this arena."

Congratulating Religare and Dr. Rashmi Saluja, *Former HRD Minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi* said that it was a proud moment to sit beside Paralympic and Olympic winners and grace the occasion. "I congratulate Dr. Rashmi Saluja and the entire Religare team for organizing the event. The paralympic event had got traction for the first time during the Prime Ministership of Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when I was the HRD minister. Sports ministry used to be part of HRD ministry then. The word '*Divyang*' has special meaning. It emphasised that they are not disabled but specially created by God. I would like that our country should take a lead in organizing a championship in which both Divyangs and the rest equally participate. I am confident that Divyangs would perform well."

Religare Broking Limited had sponsored Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In addition to being a world class para badminton player, Suhas is also an IAS officer of the 2007 batch and District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Uttar Pradesh. Being a working and committed IAS officer, it wasn't easy for him to prepare for the Paralympic Games. Religare Broking's sponsorship's backed Suhas's exceptional talent and determination with all the assistance he needed on his road to qualify and participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

"I thank Religare and Dr. Saluja for honouring the Olympics and Paralympic players. Playing in the event was very tough journey. My family always stood by my side. Death of my father was a moment that shook my life. I worked hard on my passion of playing badminton. As a DM I was participating in an event in a district of UP. I later became the first unseeded player to win in Asian championship. It was tough to balance my work as DM of Noida and playing badminton for my country," *Suhas LY *said.

Speaking about the company's involvement and commitment towards promoting sports in India, *Nitin Aggarwal, CEO, Religare Broking Limited *said, "Badminton is a popular sports due to its agility, speed and passion and these are also the values that resonate with the ethos of Religare Broking. In Suhas, we truly found a perfect match of a persona that gives us as well as the nation a belief that we can be the best in the world if we are determined to become so."

"I had never seen a medal before. I did not knew how the gold medal looked, but I will now work for it," said *Yogeshwar Dutt*, who won bronze medal in 2012 London Olympics.

Appreciating the Religare for organizing the event, *Bajrang* said, "We feel responsible when we get felicitated at such event."

*Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, Indian Olympic Association* hoped that, "In the upcoming international events in 2022, India looks forward to emerge in the top five medal holder countries. We aim to double the monetary award given to our winning players by 2024. We hope that Dr. Rashmi Saluja will help in our efforts."

*About Religare Group*

Religare Group is a diversified financial services group. It offers an integrated suite of financial services through its operating entities, including loans to SMEs, affordable housing finance, health insurance and retail broking. REL is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India.

The Religare Group (REL & subsidiaries) has access to a wide reach of customers - 1 million+ policy holders in insurance business, 1 million+ broking customers, more than 26,000+ customers in MSME finance and 10,000+ customers in affordable housing finance. The group has an overall employee base of more than 11,000 professionals servicing diversified set of customers and has reach to around 1,000+ locations around India.