Vodafone India Ltd., one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, has received a good response to the second season of Vodafone ‘Drive into the Big League’ program, as the much awaited annual property races toward the grand finale stage.

As the call for entries ended on Aug 30, 2012, Vodafone clocked in a record number of over 270,000 entries from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across India. The ‘Vodafone India Drive into the Big League –II’ contest is a one-of-its-kind initiative exclusively for SMEs (enterprises with turnover between INR 10 crores and INR 250 crores) in India, to win a once in a business’ life-time opportunity of having their company logo placed on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars that will race in the second season of Indian Grand Prix, slated for October 26-28, 2012.

Post announcement of call for entries in the last week of July 2012, Vodafone India received a flurry of enquiries from aspiring SMEs. To enable eager aspirants from different parts of the country to participate, last date for entries was extended for an additional ten days, till Thursday, 30th August. By closing hours, the Vodafone Drive into the Big League –II campaign had crossed more than 270,000 entries from SMEs across multiple locations in India. Last year, the first season of Vodafone Drive into Big League received 80,000 entries.

Entries to Vodafone Drive into the Big League –II have come in from cities and towns across all states viz Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, J&K, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh among others. An interesting trend to note is that majority of the responses has been received from enterprises in the manufacturing sector followed by wholesale and retail trade.

Expressing great pleasure at the amazing response, Naveen Chopra, Director, Vodafone Business Services, said, “We are overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and feedback received to this unique initiative that we started last year and we have surpassed our own expectations. It was our desire to make significant in-roads into the SME community and encourage them with a platform that sets them on an easier path of growth.”