In a historic first for any Corporate in India, the country's largest energy company, IndianOil, has taken nine players of the Indian Hockey team onto its rolls under its new sports policy, which promotes Women's Hockey.

The nine Women's Hockey players include Suman Devi Thoudam, Rajwinder Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Sharmila Devi, Ishika Chaudhary, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Deepika, Baljeet Kaur and Akshata Dhekale

These nine players come from various states which include Haryana, Punjab, Manipur, Odisha and Maharashtra and have participated in international tournaments, including the Tokyo Olympics, Asian Champions Trophy.

The nine players were handed over their appointment letters by IndianOil Chairman, Mr S M Vaidya in the presence of functional Directors of IndianOil and Federation of International Hockey (FIH) President, Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra who is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Speaking at the induction ceremony of the nine female hockey players on International's Women Day, Chairman, IndianOil, Mr S M Vaidya, highlighting IndianOil's social commitment, said: "We recognise how sports is the most effective vehicle of ushering in enduring social change. Thus, IndianOil's commitment to gender equality had to manifest in our sporting outreaches. Recently IndianOil was conferred "Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar" for encouragement to sports through CSR. This recognition at the highest level symbolizes IndianOil’s contribution to the promotion of sports over the last several decades”.

Mentioning about IndianOil's revamped sports policy, Mr Vaidya said, "Last year, we released our revised sports policy, which included the provision for recruiting women hockey players for the first time. I am glad that within a few months of the policy's rollout, we are witnessing the conversion of intent into action."

IndianOil has taken up the mantle to support Women’s Hockey which holds immense potential as witnessed by the entire world in the Tokyo Olympics, he added.