Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon

New Delhi, 8th December 2022: The citizens of Delhi, India Inc and the government united as one for the prestigious 17th Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in October to uphold the spirit of ‘giving’. In a 30-day fundraising window, with Philanthropy Partner United Way Delhi on-board, INR 1.59 crore was raised for various causes by the participating NGOs, Fundraisers and Corporates with the motto #EachStepCounts !

Being a cause neutral platform, the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon had NGOs from multiple causes, ranging from early childcare and development, education and youth success, health and well-being, financial stability, environment and sustainability, disaster response and preparedness and diversity and inclusion. While fundraising is one aspect, the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2022 also provided the partnering NGOs with a platform to initiate dialogue on issues of shared importance.

Since its inception, the National Capital’s very own prestigious half marathon has raised over INR 79.35 crore towards charity.

Another key spectacle during the event was the youth signing up as cause champions, raising awareness and funds for causes close to their hearts and support the less privileged. The event also witnessed the participation of 14 Corporates with 335 Employees holding cause flags of various social sector organizations, contributing close to 60% of the total fundraising this year.

Speaking about this year’s edition, Rina Kaushal, Board Chair, United Way Delhi, said: “As the city experienced the iconic sports event this year, on 16th of October, the streets of Delhi not only witnessed the footsteps of the runners from India and the globe but also hundreds and thousands of hearts throbbing to make a difference in the lives of those in need.”

Boosting the event’s philanthropic drive were Vedanta Limited and IDFC FIRST Bank, the event’s Title sponsor and Associate sponsor respectively, who marked their maiden association with the world’s prestigious half marathon with innovative social impact campaigns that struck a chord with the runners.

Indian conglomerate Vedanta’s #RunForZeroHunger campaign translated to a nutritious meal for a needy child for every kilometre logged during the race — 2 million meals in all — through its flagship social impact initiative Nand Ghar.

Ms. Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta Limited, said, “It has been a surreal experience to witness the fervour and zeal at the 17th edition of the prestigious Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. Over 40,000 people from across the world participated in the prestigious run, colouring the streets of Delhi in the spirit of humanity as they all ran for a larger purpose – they all ran for zero hunger! 26,000 runners on the race day and 15,000 Vedanta family came together and clocked more than 2 million kilometres. Through our Nand Ghar initiative, we are ensuring that these 2 million nutritious meals are served to children in need for their healthier future.”
The technology-led bank’s Runners Pledge incentivised fast finishers by rewarding participants who completed the 10K and half marathon within a specified time. Successful runners could then contribute the sum credited to them towards social causes dear to them.
Naarayan TV, Chief Marketing Officer, IDFC FIRST Bank, said, “Marathons are often about bettering oneself and realising innate strengths. The IDFC FIRST Bank Runners Pledge enabled participants to support causes dear to them and thereby contribute to the larger purpose of social good. Under the Runners Pledge, the Bank deposited funds for social causes in eligible participants’ bank accounts, commensurate with the distance covered and finishing time. Finishers who qualified for this reward had the choice of using the funds to contribute to social causes they believe in and create a real impact. For many of them, the journey to the finish line was over but their #JourneyToTheStart of doing social good had just begun.”
Strategic handholding of grassroots organizations and helping them leverage the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon philanthropy was a key focus for United Way Delhi. Happy with the success and visibility for the cause, many of the partnering organizations have started brainstorming and discussing for the next edition.

Vivek Singh, Jt MD of race promoters Procam International, said: “Charity has played a big role in distance running since time immemorial. Kudos to the people of Delhi for turning the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon into one of India’s largest sports philanthropy platforms with their generous participation in the spirit of giving.”

About United Way Delhi
United Way Delhi (UWD) is an independent local not-for-profit organization affiliated with the United Way Worldwide Family – one of the World’s Largest Leadership with 1800 affiliate chapters across 41 countries. United Way Delhi (UWD), since 2008, has been working actively to advance the ‘common good’ for the local community through innovative social impact interventions and partnerships under domains including foundational learning, quality education, healthcare, environment, livelihood, and disaster response, across the country.

ABOUT VEDANTA
Vedanta Limited is one of the world’s leading natural resouces company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta’s strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com

About IDFC FIRST Bank
IDFC FIRST Bank was formed by the merger of erstwhile IDFC Bank, promoted by renowned infrastructure financing institution IDFC Ltd. and leading technology NBFC, Capital First. IDFC FIRST Bank, has a balance sheet of Rs. 2,00,565 crore, and has provided over 30 million loans in its combined history and serves customers in over 60,000 villages, cities and towns across the length and breadth of the country. The Bank believes in making customer-first products, and was the first universal bank to offer monthly interest credit on savings accounts, life time free credit cards with dynamic and low APR rates, and many other such interesting products.

The Bank’s vision is to build a world class bank in India, guided by ethics, powered by technology, and to be a force for social good. Our mission is to touch the lives of millions of Indians in a positive way by providing them high-quality banking services.

In a short time, the Bank has expanded to 651 branches, 235 asset service centres, 807 ATMs and 602 rural business correspondent centres across the country, a next-generation net and mobile banking platform and 24/7 Customer Care services, and is incrementally growing digitally. IDFC FIRST Bank is committed to bring high-quality banking at affordable rates to India. The Bank also offers high quality technology-enabled corporate banking solutions, contemporary cash management solutions, fleet card and FASTag solutions and wealth management solutions.

About Procam International
Since its inception in 1988, Procam International has been the driving force behind the growth and development of sports management in India. Founded by Anil and Vivek Singh, Procam is India’s premier sports management company and is involved in live events, sports consultancy, and live television production.
Pioneers of the distance running revolution in India, Procam International’s Big 4 – Tata Mumbai Marathon, Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, Tata Consultancy Services World 10K Bengaluru, and Tata Steel Kolkata 25K are global leaders in their respective distances. They have ushered in a running revolution, that has helped to redefine, the health, fitness, and charity paradigm of India.
Procam also promotes India’s largest virtual run, Sunfeast India Move As One. Launched in 2020, the event has community and fitness as its main pillars.
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WINNERS ACROSS DIFFERENT CATEGORIES:
Change Champions (Individuals taking on a target of Rs 10 lakh for their cause)
Change Champion top fundraiser: Yash Pal Syngal
Raised INR 12,77,000 for The Earth Saviors Foundation

Change Leader (Taking on a target of Rs 5 lakh for their cause)
Kosmic Running
Raised INR 5,12,000 for WoMen Sports Foundation

Change Leader (Taking on a target of Rs 2.50 lakh for their cause)
Anjali Hegde – Raised INR 5,00,000 for Udayan Care
Change Investor (Taking on a target of Rs 2.5 lakh for their cause)

Anil Chawla Raised INR 4,42,700 for Vipla Foundation
Run Xtreme (Tarun Walecha) raised INR 3,11,005 for Maitrayana

Change Maker (Taking on a target of Rs 1 lakh for their cause.)
Fr. George Mathew
Raised INR 2,48,873 for Don Bosco Tech Society

Young Leaders
Shiv Khanna
Raised INR 92,700 for Vipla Foundation

Corporate Champions (Companies that contribute to chosen CSOs)
Apollo Tyres Ltd
Supported Apollo Tyres Foundation by donating INR 18,00,000

S&P Global
Supported Yuvraj Singh Foundation by donating INR 12,00,000

Bluestar India Ltd
Supported Bluestar Foundation by donating INR 9,00,000
Cargill
Supported United Way Delhi by donating INR 9,00,000

CSOs Awards
Highest fundraising organization: Rs 18,14,000– Apollo Tyres Foundation
2nd Highest: Rs 17,49,808- Yuvraj Singh Foundation
3rd Highest: 13,31,125 – Udayan Care