TATA STEEL ADVENTURE FOUNDATION1

THE DAY OF RECKONING

Sitting in his usual chair, Hemant Gupta was looking intently at the vacant chair on the
other side of the table. Having taken over as the Chief, he could easily sit in the vacant
chair which till yesterday was always occupied by Bachendri Pal Head of the Tata Steel
Adventure Foundation (TSAF). His hesitation was understandable since till yesterday he
was looking upto madam (that’s what everyone at TSAF called her) for guidance.
Whenever he was in Jamshedpur more or less everyday he met Ms. Pal in the morning to
discuss different plans regarding TSAF. But today was different. After the retirement
function Bachendri said to Hemant “now you have to take it forward. My best wishes are
with you”. Hemant was deep in thought – how to take TSAF to the next level.

TSAF was born sometime in 1984 and its first head was Ms Bachendri Pal. (Refer to
Exhibit 1 for a brief profile of Bachendri Pal). Bachendri, being the first woman to climb
Mount Everest from India and the fifth from the world, had already done mammoth tasks
in developing adventure spirit in women in the country. But she wanted to spread this
experience amongst all across different age groups and socioeconomic strata. She
believed mountaineering should not be confined within army men. In her own words:

“The mountains have taught me qualities like humanity, patience, and

selflessness, which are essential, not just for mountaineers but for every human
being. When it comes to learning, there is no better classroom than nature”.

FORMATION OF TATA STEEL ADVENTURE FOUNDATION

Tata Steel Ltd. was a leading global steel company with an annual steel production
capacity of 33 MnTPA. Established in 1907, the company followed the vision of founder
Jamshedji N. Tata and was recognized as one of the world’s most geographically
diversified steel producers with worldwide operations and commercial presence i. The
company was known for its value based existence and many a corporate cited Tata Steel
as an example of ethical conduct.

As a part of a comprehensive wellbeing of its employees, Tata Steel had traditionally

supported many sports and adventure activities in the company. When Bachendri joined
Tata Steel in 1983, as a Sports Associate, an interesting discussion took place between
JRD Tata and Tata Steel’s Chairman and Managing Director Russi Mody. They wanted

1
This case was developed by Prof. Anita Sarkar of XLRI Jamshedpur to provide material for class
discussion. The author does not intend to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of a managerial
situation. The case should not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any
form or means without the written permission of the author.

1
to see Tata Steel’s flag atop Mount Everest one day. After Bachendri’s return from
Mount Everest in 1984, Russy Mody organized a special felicitation ceremony in her
honor. A new department for promoting adventure spirit was created, where Bachendri
took up the role of Chief Adventure Program. Initially, the department was focused on
promoting adventure spree amongst Tata Steel employees only. Later on, to serve wider
audience, a Trust was formed and thus ‘Tata Steel Adventure Foundation” took shape
and got registered as a separate entity. Soon it started to offer outbound leadership and
team building programs to different organizations outside Tata Steel as well. The notable
clients of TSAF included LG, SAIL, ICICI Bank, TCS, Tata Motors, Tata Power,
LiuGong, Government of Orissa, and renowned Indian institutes like IIT Kharagpur, and
XLRI Jamshedpur. Throughout the year, TSAF organized various customized land,
water, and air-based adventure activities, expeditions and treks (See Exhibit 2 for overall
activities of TSAF).

From the very inception of TSAF, Bachendri was convinced that TSAF was not going to
be another sports unit trying to monetize its activities. Rather the idea was to create
experiences around adventure sports through which individuals associated with TSAF
would win over the fear of unknowns. It was more like an educational institute in itself
through which Bachendri tried to empower people from any age group more specially
women, tribal communities and persons with different abilities. To her adventure sports
was a journey towards excellence in life.

Bachendri as a person was very affable. However, when it came to adventure she was not
only a strict disciplinarian but also someone who professed and exemplified love for
nature. A 64-year-old faculty of a nearby college had an interesting experience to narrate
in this regard.

At the starting of our trek to Dharwa Top, Bachendri greeted us all and gave each
one of us few chocolates. At the end of each day she used to ask each one of us
for the chocolate wrappers. Those who could not return their wrappers were
given extra assignments e.g. cleaning the camp site. In such matters no relaxation
for anyone.

To Bachendri all adventure sports enhanced life skills not only to enrich the individual
but also as a corporate person. To her

A trek in the Himalayas is no less than managing a company as a CEO. One

needs to fulfill the objectives, maintain camaraderie with other colleagues who
come from varied backgrounds, think about time management, effective use of
equipment, oxygen, and even restoring energy. Both independently and as a
group, one needs to work together. One needs to think judiciously about risks and
uncertainties.

2
TSAF under Bachendri’s leadership was truly doing a good job of building effective
managers in Tata Steel, so much so that the company made it mandatory for all its
executives to undergo atleast one leadership camp run by TSAF.

Whenever Bachendri visited any new country she tried to learn from them and
incorporated some of the learning in the TSAF’s program offerings. Known as a free-
spirited authentic leader, on her way to run TSAF Bachendri had broken many
stereotypes that appeared as barriers towards adventure spree of any individual.

WAYS OF WORKING IN TSAF

TSAF was primarily based in Jamshedpur, in the state of Jharkhand wherefrom it offered
hard-core adventure programs both to individuals and corporate clients.

Partly due to the fact that TSAF was initially meant to cater to the employees of Tata
Steel and then to the associated Tata Group of companies (e.g., Tata Motors), TSAF did
not focus much on advertising their programmes. With the captive clientele of Tata Steel
their hands were full. Sometime later when Tata Steel was trying to modernize and there
were repeated enquiries and requests from nearby institutes and companies like SAIL
and other non-Tata companies, TSAF started offering limited need based training
programs to executives and non-executives in an around Jamshedpur. Currently, every
year, approximately 2500 Tata executives, 2000 non-Tata executives and 1000 students
from nearby colleges participated in TSAF’s camps.

Though TSAF was involved in many types of adventure sports e.g. parasailing,
swimming etc., many could connect TSAF primarily with trekking & mountaineering.

Most of its employees were avid mountaineers, some even had qualified from national
mountaineering institutes and regularly went for expeditions. But with the demand for
various adventure activities rising the TSAF employees upgraded their skills so that
other programmes could be organized.

As part of their overall philosophy of empowering women and the marginalized TSAF
over the years had supported many Everest expeditions by providing mentoring, training,
and financial support to mountaineers like Ms. Premlata Agarwal, Arunima Sinha, Binita
Soren Meghlal Mahato and Payo Murmu.

With Bachendri’s continuous insistence and TSAF's support, Premlata Agarwal

summited Mt. Everest at the age of 48. She was a mere housewife busy with her daily
chores when a chance meeting with Bachendri made her interested in adventure sports
and later in mountaineering. Bachendri worked with her to build her confidence so much
so that on May 20, 2011 at the age of 48 years she became the oldest Indian women to
have summited Everest. Even today she recalls that near the summit, when faced with
severe stormy rough weather when her Sherpa guides were insisting her to return it was
Bachendri’s faith in her that gave her strength to reach the top.

3
Arunima Sinha was a national level volleyball player who fell down from a running train
while fighting some miscreants. A nearby passing train ran over her due to which she
lost her left leg. Arunima fondly remembered when with her stitched right leg and
amputed left leg (wherefrom blood was still oozing out), she met Bachendri for the first
time. Bacehndri told her that, in that condition, the moment she could think of Everest
summit, she had already won over it. Arunima became the first female amputee to climb
Everest on May 21, 2013, with the support of TSAF.

Till 2011 Payo Murmu used to work in Tata Steel as an employee whose primary
responsibility was to serve tea in the office. One day Bachendri met her and came to
know her excellent performance in sports. With the support from her, Payo could
complete one of the most difficult challenges in the world, Snowman Trek. There was no
stopping since then for Payo, she kept on scaling Mt. Kanamo, Mt. Annapurna and in
2017 Mt. Everest.

In 2012, two mountaineers Binita Soren and Meghlal Mahato, both belonging to poor
tribal background of Jharkhand, could conquer Mount Everest. Binita attributed her
success to Bachendri. She acknowledges that coming from a rural background it was not
an easy feat to fulfill her dream to reach Mount Everest unless Bachendri would have
provided the much-needed support and guidance.

Sports climbing was another activity which TSAF felt could enhance the adventure spirit
of the youth and also could be done indoor. TSAF imparted special trainings to kids who
participated in All India Sport Climbing Competition and were regular winners of
medals at the national level. For this TSAF had built up three separate walls for lead,
speed and bouldering practices imparted to the kids. Many considered TSAF as a
paradise for sports climbers since hardly these types of facilities are available even in the
bigger Indian cities as compared to Jamshedpur. TSAF was also planning to set up a
residential facility in its JRD Tata Sports Complex for such climbers.

So far as training is concerned TSAF had a rigorous disciplined approach for all its
participants. Usual routine in a day in a TSAF camp would start sharp at 4 am in the
morning and continued till late evening. Alcohol was strictly banned in all its training
camps. Compared to this, other private adventure tour operators had much lenient
schedule, with fun and entertainment as an important part.

Having started as department to train the employees of Tata Steel and as desired by the
Tata management, since inception TSAF had focused on building leadership capabilities
and environment consciousness in its trainees. Be it the activity schedule or the informal
chats which the instructors or Bachendri had with the participants was predominantly
focused to ingrain these two values. After all, Bachendri herself believed in them. This
focus continued even after TSAF extended its programmes for non-Tata organizations
and educational institutes.

4
Total manpower in TSAF consisted of 25 employees (including training instructors)
(Exhibit 3). Out of these 25 employees, six were on the payroll of Tata Steel and rest
were paid directly by TSAF. Salaries and perks of TSAF employees at one point of time
was extremely low as compared to Jamshedpur standard where standard of living was
anyway mediocre as compared to rest of India. The employees of TSAF used to be paid
in lump sum and there were no other benefits e.g. gratuity, provident funds etc. It was a
perineal bone of contention, but the employees always felt some mission in their work
for TSAF. But how long could this go on? Later when Hemant joined, after much
discussion and debates and with the help of some consultants, the salaries of all
employees were increased. Although it was still not as high as Tata Steel but more
acceptable.

Hemant Gupta, a metallurgical engineer from IIT Bombay joined in the Operations
Department of Tata Steel in 2013. Although a trained engineer Hemant could not find
satisfaction in his shop floor role. It was during one of the outbound programmes
organized by TSAF that he felt more at home and expressed his interest in shifting to
TSAF. Seeing his deep interest in adventure sports and related activities Bachendri took
him under her wings and specially groomed him. He was sent for various appropriate
national & international training programmes where he came out with flying colours. He
summited Everest in 2017. He was recognized as the would be successor of Bachendri
Pal. Hemant officially took charge as Manager TSAF only recently.

Hemant’s engineering background had given him keen eyes for details and he
understood the daunting task he had in front. He could see the increasing interest in
adventure sports and the rising environmental consciousness. But which direction will
take TSAF to the next level and honestly what was the next level? All such questions
came flooding to his mind.

ADVENTURE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

As per the definition of Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), adventure tourism
could be defined as a trip that included at least two of the following three elements:
physical activity, cultural immersion and natural environment ii. A wide variety of
adventure sports activities were included under adventure tourism, primary ones being
mountaineering, trekking, mountain biking, river rafting, parasailing etc.

Since Bachendri’s time, adventure tourism in India had grown manifolds. Adventure
sports, particularly mountaineering, had become a popular sports activity amongst both
men and women in the countryiii. There were already number of well-established
mountaineering training schools, such as Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, National
Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports. These institutes provided basic,
intermediate, and advanced courses for mountaineers. TSAF had sent some of its trainers
to attend these courses. In addition, there were many private organizations which catered

5
to the adventure aspirations of the public. They were registered bodies but not as big as
the earlier mentioned institutes primarily run by enthusiastic individuals / groups.

Number of private adventure tour operators had substantially increased recently and
stood at total 2784 (Exhibit 4 shows state-wise distribution of total adventure tour
operators in the country and also tendency of adventure tourists to carry out travel
arrangements on their own, without involving any tour operator). Some of the adventure
tourists were also making their own arrangement. Private operators, belonging to
unorganized sector, almost always charged much lesser price as compared to TSAF for
their adventure programs at Uttarakhand.

In India, adventure tourism travel market was expected to grow at a CAGR of 17% from
2017 to 2023iv. There had been a 42% increase in the popularity of high altitude regions,
among adventure sports enthusiasts over the past three years. Adventure Tourism in
India was highly unorganized. Generally, all adventure tour operators working in the
mountaineering were expected to register themselves with Adventure Tour Operators
Association of India and Ministry of Tourism. Similarly, for water-based adventure
activities tour operators were supposed to be registered with Indian Association of
Professional Rafting Out lifters or Adventure Tour Operators Association of India and
Ministry of Tourism to operate legally. There was much scope left for Government of
India to monitor the operations of private adventure tour operators. Every state in India
had some operators who collaborated with national and international operators.
Generally, like TSAF, other tour operators had a small staff base and equipment to
organize small, medium, and difficult expeditions for different groups.

Age-wise though predominantly, individuals of less than 35 years of age were more
interested in adventure travel, however recently people aged 50 and above were also
preferring offbeat travels. 27% of adventure seekers were interested to travel to
Himalayas. More and more travelers were preferring activities like trekking, hiking, and
biking activities, and parasailing (See Exhibit 5 for major adventure activities performed
in different states of India in 2015). Due to preference on trekking, Himachal Pradesh
had become one of the most preferred adventure destinations. In 2015 the revenue
generated from domestic adventure tourist stood at INR 1297 crores ($1=approx. INR
65), whereas revenue from foreign adventure tourist visits was INR 475 croresv. There
were huge monthly seasonal variations of visits of adventure tourists in India (See
Exhibit 6).

Major trendsvi catching up in the adventure industry included: usage of social media
platforms to reach out to prospective clients, usage of data analytics and artificial
intelligence to provide customized product and service offerings, and extensive
advertisement campaigns by the tour operators. Also, adventure tour operators were
trying to become one-stop solution for their clients, by providing them basket of
offerings, hotels and car booking facilities along with sports activities.

6
TSAF had its hands full with clients from Tata steel and a few non-Tata organizations. It
never felt any need to publicize. Primary awareness generation vehicle for TSAF
program was word of mouth promotion made by enthusiastic participants. In the words
of one of such participants from Tata Steel:

In a small group of 20 participants we were just like a family. There was rotation
of group leaders, peer feedback system, dumb charade, singing, storytelling,
fitness exercises and most importantly ever smiling Bachendri Ma’am. I look
forward to joining another camp soon with the members of my family.

TSAF’s website was still quite traditional, featuring only very basic minimum
information. Only recently, TSAF started encouraging the participants to write blogs. It
had very limited social media presence e.g. on Facebook or Instagram. Of late they were
planning for mobile apps to reach out to the technology friendly current generation.

Though India had substantially progressed in adventurism, however, there were still
major hurdles related to safety, security, and non-availability of modern adventure
tourism equipment, lack of infrastructural support, and lack of connectivity through
internet. Other than these two other major concerns included vii: First, ensuring
environmental sustainability in Himalayasviii, and second the absence of any regulatory
body which would ensure that prescribed rules and regulations were being strictly
adhered to by all the operators.

THE ROAD AHEAD?

Hemant was wondering what needs to be done. When TSAF started its journey, there
were very few adventure sports operators in the country. But currently, many such
private operators have come up clawing at the participant base of TSAF. Amidst such a
scenario does TSAF have a chance to continue its journey?

Bachendri Pal had dreamt of creating TSAF an adventure foundation occupying a unique
space in the adventure space domain. Should it remain so or should it also include more
entertainment and fun elements in its package to attract more business? Should TSAF be
more women-focused, or should it cater to all adventure enthusiasts? Should it be
focusing more on corporate clients or individuals? TSAF was born and nurtured by
Bachendri’s ideals. Now that she has gone how long should TSAF carry the legacy or
should they continue with it at all?

(That was the case because in the time when Bachendri headed TSAF, there were not
many adventure sports apart from mountaineering itself, but now due to the tremendous
growth in the number of adventure sports, TSAF does need to add more entertainment
elements.)

7
 Exhibit 1

BRIEF PROFILE OF BACHENDRI PAL

Bachendri was born to Kishan Singh Pal and Hansa Devi Negi on 24th May 1954 in a small
village named Nakuri near Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand. Her father, a small businessman who
initially tried his hands in animal husbandry, and raw wool, later on, moved to carpet weaving
and knitting of sweaters. With meager earnings, the family found it difficult to make both ends
meet. Throughout her initial years, she, along with her entire family, had to struggle against
poverty constantly. Given her troublesome financial situation right after completion of her higher
education, there was no other option for Bachendri but to look for job opportunities. There was
also constant family pressure of getting married soon. After searching for a while, Bachendri got
few offers from schools. School teacher’s jobs in India was regarded as a safe and prestigious
women’s job. Meanwhile, she also happened to meet Colonel Prem Chand, the then Vice-
Principal of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) who visited their village. He encouraged
her to join a mountaineering career and join a course at NIM.

A woman of marriageable age, climbing mountains was unheard of in India in those days. Thus
Bachendri had to handle loads of questions and criticisms both from her family and neighbors.
Back at NIM Bachendri excelled in every sphere of climbing and rappelling and stood first in her
batch. Though Bachendri did not pay heed to it, some of her instructors at NIM recognized her
as the “Everest material” much before her actual journey started. In 1982 when Indian
Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) initiated searching for experienced women mountaineers
Bachendri also got an invitation from IMF. The selection committee unanimously decided that
she should be part of the Everest expedition team, despite being the youngest in the team.

The entire team consisted of eleven men and six women. Bachendri prepared herself through an
arduous, extremely tiring, and demanding self-training. To build up muscles and stamina every
day, she would climb up the hill of Naukri with a big rucksack full of stones. She had to continue
doing her household chores along with her mountaineering practice. Thus on her return journey
from the hill, she had to cut wood and carry it down to her house. This was followed by a month-
long special training imparted by Lieutenant Colonel Prem Chand in Gulmarg District of Jammu
and Kashmir. During this time, with the help of Brigadier Gyan Singh, Director of National
Adventure Foundation (NAF) Bachendri took up a Sports Assistant’s role at Tata Iron and Steel
Company (TISCO), now Tata Steel. This helped solve her immediate financial troubles and let
her fully concentrate on the Everest summit.

Abruptly, in the journey of Himalayas, two deaths happened, an avalanche killed one Sherpa,
followed by the death of a kitchen attendant due to acclimatization failure. In Bachendri’s group,
there were ND Sherpa, Lopsang Tshering, and Magan Bissa. Meanwhile, seeing the weather
condition, one of the women from another small group decided to descent. Bachendri kept on
climbing the steep slope initially without oxygen. Later on, ND Sherpa gave her an oxygen
cylinder, with which the journey became relatively smooth. A huge avalanche smashed down on
the tent where Bachendri and her group were sleeping. The group barely escaped death with their
courage and team co-ordination. The massive snow sliding physically and mentally affected

8
everyone. Due to physical injury, nine male members had to return to the base camp . Bachendri
reflected:

I asked myself what could be worse than death. I was scared but didn’t tell anyone. The
decision to continue the journey changed my life.

With swollen head, undeterred Bachendri became the only woman to pursue the summit with the
rest of her team. She, later on, mentioned that day she could realize “woman power”. When one
of her male team mates asked her being a woman what was the need to take such a huge risk,
Bachendri quipped that just like him in the team, she was also a climber who had to meet her
objective. Next day morning with fellow mountaineers Ang Dorjee, and Lhatoo, Bachendri kept
on continuing the hardest and the most dangerous part of her journey, initially with very little use
of oxygen cylinder. High flow of icy wind, along with almost zero visibility, created huge
challenge for her to stay upright on knife-edge ridges. The other two fellow mountaineers had
earlier experienced all these. Bachendri kept on moving firmly using her ice axe. At last, Ang
Dorjee with his finger indicated that the destined top was near. This created tremendous energy
and enthusiasm in Bachendri to keep on climbing.

Soon she realized that there was no upward climb left, since she had already reached the summit
Thus, on 23rd May 1984, at 1.07 pm Bachendri became the first woman in India and the fifth in
the world to stand atop Mt. Everest! Overwhelmed Bachendra knelt and kissed the top of the
summit with due respect and thanked Ang Dorjee for his support. After spending few minutes on
the summit, the two of them set forth their descending trip, which was more accident-prone as
compared to the ascending one. With meticulous patience and perseverance, Bachendri and Ang
Dorjee successfully descended the hill in 10 hours 40 minutes.

Many accolades followed after the most deserving victory. Bachendri had been conferred the
most prestigious National Award, ‘Padma Shree’ by Government of India. She also became
recipient of the highly coveted award in sports, ‘Arjuna Award.’

Right after her Everest expedition, she could meet a role model of hers, Ms. Indira Gandhi, the
then Prime Minister of India.

Ms. Gandhi said:

We want hundreds of Bachendris

Bachendri was utterly moved by these words, she thought of dedicating herself toward creating
more sports’ enthusiasts both within country and outside the country. She firmly believed that
ordinary people, particularly women who had willingness to take little risks, should be
encouraged and supported in their endeavor. After Mt. Everest with support of TSAF majority of
her notable mountaineering expeditions, river rafting, camel riding, and mountain biking
involved women.

Source: Adapted from autobiographyviii of Bachendri Pal based on the discussion with the
authors.

9
 Exhibit 2

Programs of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation

TSAF has outbound training program, treks and expedition, and various fitness centers.

A. Outbound Leadership Team Building Programs

Currently, TSAF has three types of outbound programs, targeted at corporate,
institutions, and rural youth.

1. Corporate Program – Two types of corporate programs are currently there. Under
entry-level leadership program, the target audience is young, new or recent hires who
join this program as part of their induction process. Advanced Leadership Program, on
the other hand, caters to relatively aged Middle or senior level managers. Both the
programs are aimed at developing and honing up participants’ team building, leadership,
time management, risk-taking abilities, and decision making abilities.

2. Institutional Program – are targeted toward students from nearby engineering colleges
and management institutes.

3. Rural Programs – These programs are targeted toward rural youth and inculcate within
them self –confidence.

B. Treks and Expeditions

Time to time TSAF organizes Trek and Expedition programs of different varying
difficulty levels. Sample of programs on offer are now are given below.

Location Difficulty Maximum Altitude

Everest Base Camp (Nepal) Moderate 17500 ft.
Sandakphu Trek (West Easy 10500ft.
Bengal)
Manali Camp (Himachal For beginners 8000 ft.
Pradesh)
Kanamo Expedition, Spiti Difficult 19600 ft.
Valley (Himachal Pradesh &
Ladhak)

C. Fun & Fitness Activities

Through it's fun and fitness centers TSAF provides following facilities:
 Sports Climbing – TSAF climbing training center trains participants on rock climbing.
 Horse Riding
 Water Sports
 Workout/ Aerobics/ Yoga
 Parasailing

D. Other activities: TSAF time to time sponsor potential candidates for mountaineering
expeditions
Source: Company document shared on TSAF websiteix

10
 Exhibit 3

TSAF’s Organization Structure

Name Brief Background

Leadership Team
Bachendri Pal Chief of Adventure Program
Hemant Gupta B. Tech in Metallurgical Engineering & Material Science from IIT Bombay.
He is among very few IIT graduates to climb Mount Everest. He joined Tata
Steel as Manager Operations. He is responsible for extending TSAF reach,
introducing new courses and designing courses and development of Sport
climbing centre of excellence. He is also working on sustainable trails and
camps and expeditions to raise awareness on environment conservation and
preservation. His favorite activities include rock climbing, mountaineering &
long distance running.
Premlata She started mountaineering at the age of 37, after taking part in a hill
climbing competition in Jamshedpur. On May 20, 2011, she became the
oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest
at the age of 48 years. The Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri
in 2013 for her achievements in the field of Mountaineering. She especially
conducts fitness programs and trekking programs focusing on women,
children, and family members.
RS Pal A highly trained member of the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, Mr. R S
Pal is responsible for all field operations and looks after the conduct of
courses. He is course in charge and led several challenging expeditions. He
climbed Mt Everest Expedition in 2012.
Pratim Among his varied interests of Mountaineering, Trekking, and Cycling, Mr.
Bhowmick Bhowmick is the brains behind the TSAF adventure courses. With an
experience of 28 years and several expeditions under his belt, Mr. Bhowmick
is the best person to be leading and guiding the participants of the adventure
courses.
Instructor Team
Annapurna Specialized in Mountaineering, Yoga, Cycling, and Kabaddi.
N.S. Panwar Specialized in Mountaineering, Rock climbing, Rafting, Kayaking.
Susan Mahto Specialized in Mountaineering, rock climbing, kayaking, rafting. He has
climbed Mt. Everest
Sandeep Tolia Specialized in Mountaineering, Yoga, Rafting
Rajinder He is a guest instructor, who has specialized skills in Mountaineering, Water
Rawat Sports, and Parasailing

Source: Created by the authors based on company websitex

11
 Exhibit 4
State wise-distribution of Adventure Tour Operators in India

State Adventure Tour Annual Self-

Operator booking ratio
Andhra Pradesh/ Telengana 50 0.08
Arunachal Pradesh 35 0.12
Assam 73 0.15
Goa 156 0.17
Gujarat 42 0.18
Haryana 32 0.15
Himachal Pradesh 444 0.04
Jammu & Kashmir 620 0.06
Jharkhand 7 0.20
Karnataka 55 0.19
Kerala 58 0.08
Madhya Pradesh 49 0.12
Maharashtra 157 0.05
Manipur 6 0.18
Meghalaya 15 0.13
Odisha 33 0.15
Puducherry 14 0.02
Rajasthan 106 0.18
Sikkim 31 0.02
Tamil Nadu 80 0.12
Uttar Pradesh 32 0.18
Uttarakhand 404 0.07
West Bengal 89 0.11

Source: Adapted from Adventure Tourism Market Study in India, Final Report, Submitted to
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, by Nielsen, October 2016 xi

12
 Exhibit 5
Annual Estimates of State-wise major Adventure Activities

gMountaineering/Hikin

Motor/ Bike Tours

Mountain Biking
Rock Climbing

Water Rafting
Paragliding
Parasailing
Rappelling
Trekking

Abseiling

Camping

Cycling
Caving
State

Andhra
Pradesh/ 3032 2383 0 2835 0 726 696 686 2511 0 436 0 0
Telengana
Andaman
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4454 0 0
Nicobar
Arunachal
17420 1112 58 0 0 0 0 15527 2061 0 0 0 10417
Pradesh
Assam 2288 613 266 988 0 0 0 687 0 0 0 0 3072
Goa 1019 0 0 7124 0 0 0 7325 0 0 140314 8943 2904
Gujarat 504 286 0 0 0 0 0 0 979 0 493 0 0
Haryana 0 141 0 0 0 0 0 28 1247 0 0 0 0
Himachal
246471 6612 247 6752 990 1022 0 188405 5927 3995 0 49701 626
Pradesh
Jammu &
104916 2224 141 7289 736 1071 0 82449 2376 2172 0 455 11405
Kashmir
Jharkhand 550 360 0 0 315 351 0 0 1097 0 0 0 0
Karnataka 6657 860 0 690 0 0 0 1798 1305 0 1329 430 524
Kerala 4389 573 0 921 0 0 0 1144 2406 0 1387 556 0
Madhya
3379 286 0 0 563 493 0 376 284 0 3336 0 277
Pradesh
Maharashtra 101438 2417 0 4363 694 842 0 12769 7741 0 845 672 94593
Manipur 376 337 97 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 245 0
Meghalaya 897 0 0 0 0 0 1694 0 0 0 0 0 1759
Mizoram 305 0 105 0 0 0 139 65 0 0 0 116 0
Lakshawdeep 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nagaland 238 0 0 0 0 0 0 229 0 0 0 0 0
Odisha 652 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1862 0 0 0 0
Poduchhery 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4274 0 0 0 0
Rajasthan 5150 299 0 891 0 0 0 15593 2050 0 1137 0 0
Sikkim 7531 7464 122 0 0 0 0 0 4586 0 0 36343 0
Tamilnadu 2587 657 0 0 0 0 0 0 4171 0 1170 0 0
Tripura 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Uttar Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Uttarakhand 20762 2133 196 2615 766 710 0 14355 13045 460 0 139 871463
West Bengal 16852 0 0 376 0 0 0 0 3053 0 0 170 0

Source: Adapted from Adventure Tourism Market Study in India, Final Report, Submitted to
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, by Nielsen, October 2016 xii

13
 Exhibit-6

Monthly state-wise adventure tourist visits

March

April

June
May

Sept
July

Aug

Nov
Feb

Dec
Jan

Oct
State

Andhra
Pradesh/ 4353 2290 3044 5763 9466 4277 3449 2223 3487 8069 4126 6279
Telengana
Andaman
1333 1366 1136 1929 2341 2161 981 639 993 4944 1835 1499
Nicobar
Arunachal
12073 5100 16935 2230 1870 0 0 0 0 1433 12655 14953
Pradesh
Assam 18811 6883 18978 3257 288 0 0 0 4450 21384 14877 30686
Goa 32188 9941 11857 17868 13468 5420 5176 6240 7858 27454 31045 46585
Gujarat 521 268 361 722 478 353 290 374 329 756 467 668
Haryana 0 0 50 214 444 240 88 0 0 214 100 66
Himachal
7499 6613 11758 120721 169997 104975 13716 9995 8052 70351 8869 17228
Pradesh
Jammu &
1391 1625 6655 46804 45612 50135 30179 14258 15784 9796 1624 1357
Kashmir
Jharkhand 640 978 1451 1489 1271 1361 941 1051 1000 1241 1144 1220
Karnataka 5310 6307 7692 4006 10133 5616 3129 4292 6935 8554 9494 10568
Kerala 9684 8654 10219 12274 17788 10727 8208 2941 3377 16717 8663 14805
Madhya
16880 13697 11589 9961 13858 3077 1509 1229 1012 11338 12447 17792
Pradesh
Maharashtra 17512 15673 9844 14730 21427 37631 27656 25407 8492 21922 24398 31787
Manipur 1300 685 883 33 42 0 0 0 0 28 923 1459
Meghalaya 695 610 1395 150 173 69 51 88 72 798 579 449
Mizoram 201 278 328 153 293 45 0 0 12 1066 193 291

Lakshawdeep 41 25 20 31 0 0 0 0 0 53 47 63

Nagaland 2599 1952 1433 1059 28 0 0 0 0 260 3744 6412

Odisha 3217 4036 2330 3670 7823 347 405 306 331 7307 3719 6303
Poduchhery 2250 2367 2250 3039 6366 4720 3286 2767 2597 5104 4087 2673
Rajasthan 29967 27165 25483 12241 5420 960 1559 1800 2893 40663 12648 28429
Sikkim 134 301 11834 5661 4384 0 0 0 7712 11128 10509 8965
Tamilnadu 5594 5230 4607 5019 5549 2860 2733 2526 2509 2700 3685 5829
Tripura 37 45 86 92 43 0 0 0 0 102 56 122

Uttar Pradesh 440 1353 2418 0 0 0 0 0 0 943 533 576

Uttarakhand 14291 13256 47279 237534 318223 196762 8468 5872 37061 80304 32909 51539

West Bengal 6155 4543 38781 17866 17002 3850 0 0 2385 24211 13412 17998

Note: The figures in the table include both domestic and foreigner adventure tourists

Source: Adapted from Adventure Tourism Market Study in India, Final Report, Submitted to
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, by Nielsen, October 2016 xiii

14
i
ENDNOTES

Tata Steel’s website: https://www.tata.com/business/tata-steel [Accessed on April 23, 2019]

ii
“Global Report on Adventure Tourism”, Published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid,
Spain, October, 2014. website: https://skift.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/unwto-global-report-on-
adventure-tourism.pdf [Accessed on May 10, 2019]
iii
Ray, K. K., Handbook of climbs in the Himalaya and Eastern Karakoram, Indus Publishing Company,
Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2009.
iv
Kapoor, K, “Adventure Travel sees a jump of 178% In India: Report by Thrillophilia”, 2018. website:
http://www.thrillophilia.com/blog/adventure-travel-sees-jump-178-india-report-thrillophilia/ [Accessed on
January 24, 2019]
v
“Adventure Tourism Market Study in India”, Final Report, submitted to Ministry of Tourism, submitted by
Nielsen, Government of India, 2016. p. 38. website: http://tourism.gov.in/, [Accessed on January 15, 2019]
vi
“Tourism and Hospitality, April, 2019”, IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation), website:
https://www.ibef.org/industry/tourism-hospitality-india.aspx [Accessed on May 2, 2019]
vii
Ibid., Neilsen, p.84.
viii
Pal, Bachendri, Everest: My Journey to the Top, National Book Trust, Delhi, 1989.
ix
Website of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) https://www.tsafindia.org/ [Accessed on January, 17,
2019]
x
Ibid., TSAF (1989)
xi
Ibid., “Adventure Tourism Market Study in India”, p.17, & p.35.
xii
Ibid., p. 18-19.
xiii
Ibid., p.21-27.