Mumbai, July 31, 2025: Equirus, one of India’s leading full-service financial powerhouses has co-conceptualised the IGE (Infrastructure, Grassroots and Elite) programme and announced partnership with the Bengaluru-based Centre for Sports Excellence (CSE), under which it will bankroll an upgrade of the badminton and fitness training facilities, nurture promising talent and sponsor marquee athletes. CSE is a fully integrated sporting hub spread across 16-acre, home to over 1500 athletes across nine key sporting disciplines – badminton, football, cricket, tennis, swimming, shooting, squash, basketball and volleyball. CSE aims to provide world class infrastructure as a platform for athletes, para athletes, coaches and academies across all levels to excel in their sports.
“As India prepares to make rapid progress on the world stage, sports and culture are important areas that need to be encouraged. As an investment bank powering the journey to a Viksit Bharat, Equirus is delighted to play a small part in enhancing this vision by partnering with the prestigious Dravid and Padukone centre of sports excellence. The program will aid the outstanding work being done by the CSE team and enable more Indian athletes to earn recognition at the international stage and make our country proud, “ said Ajay Garg, Chairman & Group Managing Director at Equirus.
As part of the collaboration, Equirus will co-fund the upgrade for new badminton courts and fitness equipment, allowing the Centre to continue to provide access to world-class facilities for India’s next generation of athletes.
Furthering its commitment to Indian sports, Equirus has also announced sponsorships for national badminton champion Mithun Manjunath – who has impressed at events like the Asian Games and Orleans Masters and 8 talented up and coming athletes at the grassroot level, along with upcoming budding artistic roller skating star Naisha Mehta, the first ever Indian to win a Gold in Junior Solo Dance event at the 20th Asian Roller Skating Championship, ongoing at Jecheon, South Korea.
“While the government has put renewed focus on encouraging sportspersons by providing training and competition opportunities, corporate sponsorship is extremely important in being able to provide, maintain and upgrade world-class training and coaching facilities for our sporting talent to enable them to hold their own against the best in the world. We welcome and are grateful for Equirus Group’s contribution in this regard and we hope that this inspires many more leaders of India Inc. to come forward and lend their support to help India achieve the pinnacle of sporting success”, – Vivek Kumar, Founder and Promoter of CSE.
With this partnership, Equirus not only strengthens its commitment to nation-building but also highlights the vital role of corporate India in shaping India’s journey toward global sporting excellence.