Pune, February 20, 2019: Jagriti Sewa Sansthan and Coca-Cola India have today announced the launch of ‘Sustainable Enterprise Award 2019’ to invite youth to share entrepreneurial ideas in the fields of water sustainability, sustainable agriculture and recycling. The award inauguration ceremony that was held at Shardabai Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Baramati, saw attendance by dignitaries such as Mr. Rajendra Pawar, CMD - Baramati Agro Ltd., Chairman - Agricultural Development Trust Baramati and Vice-President - Maharashtra State Grape Growers Association Pune, and Mrs. Sunanda Pawar, Trustee, Agricultural Development Trust. The aim of the award is to create an interactive platform for the youth to come forward and discuss their innovative ideas that can tackle some of the bigger issues that the country faces today. Some of these ideas of social and environmental change with built-in commercial viability have the potential to give rise to an economy of more job creators than job seekers.

Shri Ashutosh Kumar, Executive Director, Jagriti Yatra, said, ''Youth are the engines of sustainable development and growth. Their participation and leadership in resolving pressing issues such as youth unemployment, environmental concerns, and social inequality is very important. For this, we want to encourage ingenious youth to step forward to take on the mantle of purpose-driven entrepreneurship. We’ve been working with Coca-Cola India on this journey for a while and we’re positive about making a positive contribution to the society by sparking off the entrepreneurial spirit among the country’s young citizens.”

Ishteyaque Amjad, Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability at Coca-Cola India & South West Asia said, “This is the third edition of Sustainable Enterprise Award. Our endeavor is to build a long-term interactive platform for enabling youth to lead the change on sustainable development issues. By intensifying the dialogue on critical sustainability issues and incentivizing the young creative problem solvers on these matters, we’re hopeful about creating a better tomorrow.”

The awareness events will begin soon in 30 other Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations across India. Participants can apply online through the website http://www.jagriti.org/sea. Three entries each from in and around these 30 regions will be shortlisted by a panel of eminent and experienced jury members from Jagriti Sewa Sansthan and Coca-Cola India.

The chosen 90 finalists will then compete for the award during the grand finale to be scheduled in Mumbai. Besides monetary reward and heartening recognition, all members of top three winning teams will be awarded with a special waiver for the 11th Edition of the World’s largest train journey of entrepreneurs, Jagriti Yatra 2019.

Interested participants can visit http://www.jagriti.org/sea for more information on submission guidelines, format and deadlines.

About Jagriti Yatra

Jagriti Yatra is an entrepreneurial annual train journey which started in the year 2008, with 500 brilliant young minds and today the Yatra family has reached the 4000+ milestone. It covers 8000 km and travels to 12 destinations in 15 days across the landscape of India. The Yatris, chosen after multi-level selection process, are introduced to extraordinary social and business innovators and entrepreneurs to get inspired. It starts on 24th of December from Mumbai and ends on 8th of January at Ahmadabad. The motto of Jagriti Yatra is “to Build India through Enterprise,” which is way forward for a nation like India, especially in the present economic climate.

About Coca-Cola India 
Coca-Cola in India is one of the country’s leading beverage companies, offering a range of healthy, safe, high quality, refreshing beverage options to consumers. Since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products – Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Thums Up Charged, Thums Up Charged No Sugar, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Maaza, VIO "flavoured milk, Minute Maid range of juices, Minute Maid Smoothie and Minute Maid Vitingo, Georgia range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Aquarius and Aquarius Glucocharge, Schweppes, SmartWater, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its owned bottling operation and other bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Thums Up and Sprite – being the top two selling sparkling beverages. 

The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Support My School, VEER, Parivartan and Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint.

For further information on the company's India operations and its products, please visit: www.coca-colaindia.com and www.hindustancoca-cola.com. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/CocaCola_Ind, or on facebook.