Cairn India to co-sponsor Indian hockey teams

Oil and gas explorer Cairn India announced on Friday that it will be a co-sponsor of the Indian hockey team for three years. "We will be providing sponsorship fees of approximately $1 million a year," said Sudhir Mathur, Chief Financial Officer of Cairn India, speaking to Business Today.
 
The Sahara Group will continue to be the principal sponsor of the game.

Under the terms of the deal, the Indian senior and junior men's and women's hockey team jerseys will sport the Cairn India logo for the next three years. Mathur believes the association with the Indian hockey team will help Cairn India increase its recall value with the masses. "We realised that if you ask people about Cairn India, hardly anyone is able to recall us," said Mathur. "Cricket seems to be overcrowded. In Hockey, we see an opportunity to enter. It is reviving and we believe the graph will rise from here."

Officials from Hockey India say the senior Indian men's and women's hockey teams will sport the Cairn logo on their uniforms for the first time when they take part in the World League Round 2 tournaments, to be held in New Delhi from February 18 to 24.

"We welcome Cairn in joining Hockey India to revive hockey in the country. This association will boost the game further and help it reach new levels," said Dr Narinder Batra, Secretary General of Hockey India.

Cairn India operates the country's most prolific on-land oil block, in Barmer, Rajasthan. It is also an active partner in the Ravva block, off the Andhra Pradesh coast. It was a subsidiary of Scottish company Cairn Energy before being acquired by London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources in a deal inked in 2010 but completed after more than 15 months.