Sourav Ganguly, Abhinav Bindra lend support for nationwide crowd-funding campaign

In an initiative to pave the development of sports in India, Online cab network company Ola in association with JSW Sports, launched the 'Road to Gold' campaign under which its customers can contribute a sum of Re.1 per ride across the over 110 cities it operates in. 

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Olympic medalists Abhinav Bindra and Yogeshwar Dutt, along with former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, have joined hands to support this nationwide crowd-funding campaign to develop sporting talent at the grassroots level.

The crowdfund will be used to identify promising talent from different corners of the country and nurture them to become future champions through state-of-the-art training, sport-science facilities and world class coaches at JSW Sports.

"70 years ago, India won it's first Olympic gold medal as an Independent nation. As a home grown company, we take immense pride in ensuring India is recognised as a world champaigns on the global map. Keeping up with the vision we are proud to launch our national initiative #RoadToGold," the press release stated. 

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These future sporting stars will also benefit from the support and guidance of Indian sporting legends Sourav Ganguly, Abhinav Bindra, Mahesh Bhupathi and Yogeshwar Dutt. In a message of support to the campaign, the Olympic gold medalist posted a video on Twitter.

Ola's partners JSW Sports Institute in Karnataka, shares the common vision of training and nurturing promising young talent in the country. Speaking about the initiative, Ola's Senior Vice President, Pallav Singh said: 

"We are glad to partner with JSW Sports and Excel entertainment who have been staunch supporters of sports in India through infrastructure and entertainment. Together, we share the dream to identify high calibre talent and turn them into medal winning performers"

The campaign's awareness drive will be spearheaded by Akshay Kumar, and the cast of the upcoming film 'Gold'. The movie will see Akshay Kumar in the role of Tapan Das, an assistant manager of a pre-independence hockey team, whose aim is to get a gold medal for the country. The movie is slated to release on August 15, 2018.