Explore India's Top 10 Powerful Women in Business

The world and even we Indians have always had a particular image in our mind when it comes to women. We associate certain attributes to a woman, especially the ones from India and we believe that they’ll follow all the norms set for them.

However, there have been influential women, time and again, who have shattered these stereotypes and have emerged as some of the most prominent names in their fields, vis a vis, politics, and business.

This article is a tribute to the women who have made a life for themselves in the corporate sector. It reminds all of us how rudimentary our perceived gender roles are. 

Take a look at India’s top 10 business women:

#1. Nita Ambani

What can we say that hasn’t already been said about Nita Ambani. She is the driving force behind the social responsibilities of Reliance Industries. She is definitely not your typical glamorous lady. While we aren’t saying that she isn’t glamorous, she knows how to look beyond the superficial. She has a major say in all the proceedings of Reliance Industries, and her husband, India’s richest man, takes a lesson or two from her. That says how successful she is as a businesswoman.

(Image Courtesy: Forbes)

#2. Arundhati Bhattacharya

She is the Chairman of India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India. She is also the first lady in the long history of the bank to hold that position. Ever since her appointment in 2014, she has rolled out key initiatives and has been a driving force behind the bank’s online ventures. When she took over as the chairperson, she spelled out some key strategic goals that included taming asset quality deterioration, improving risk management framework, checking costs, improving delivery standards and noninterest income, and leveraging technology.

(Image Courtesy: SBI)

#3. Chanda Kochhar

If Arundhati Bhattacharya is the chairperson of India’s largest bank, following her is the CEO of India’s largest private bank, Chanda Kochhar. The woman from Jodhpur is the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI and heads the bank's corporate sector. She has been behind taking ICICI Bank to newer heights and deservedly got a place in Forbes’s list of the most powerful women in the world. She was ranked 43rd.

(Image Courtesy: Vogue)

#4. Chitra Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna is the MD and CEO of India’s leading stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange. Moreover, she is the first woman to hold that position.

(Image Courtesy: YouTube)

#5. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

She is an entrepreneur and is the chairperson of the biotech company, Biocon Limited. Apart from that, she is also the chairperson of IIM Bangalore, a premier business school not only in India but the entire world. Forbes placed her 92nd in its list of the most powerful women in the world and that speaks volumes of the success this 61-year-old has achieved.

(Image Courtesy: The Quint)

#6. Priya Nair

She joined Hindustan Unilever as a mere trainee but eventually rose through the ranks to finally become the company’s Executive Director. She assumed the position when the company was registering net losses in their home care department and she turned it around for them.

(Image Courtesy: Hul)

#7. Rekha Menon

If you are the chairman of a Global company of the scale of Accenture, you’re bound to be talented. The industry recognizes Rekha Menon as someone who is extremely passionate and her solid work ethic has helped her to manage the 140,000 employees that work for Accenture’s India division.

(Image Courtesy: YouTube)

#8. Roshni Nadar

We all had HCL computers at some point in time in our lives. Under Rekha’s leadership, HCL is changing colors. She has been behind the diversification of the company that earlier dealt only in the IT sector. However, now the company has roots in sectors like IT, healthcare, talent care and even education, all thanks to the extremely talented Rekha Nadar. 

(Image Courtesy: Beat)

#9. Schauna Chauhan Saluja

She is the CEO of Parle Agro, and under her, the company has been flourishing despite strong competition from the western brands. She has managed to make profits every year even though the competition in the beverage industry is stiff due to the presence of Coca Cola and PepsiCo.

(Image Courtesy: Retail Jeweller India Awards)

#10. Suneeta Reddy

Reddy is the MD of Apollo Hospitals and under her, the company has been expanding aggressively. She took over the role in 2014, and since then, the company has seen nothing else but profits. She is the driving force behind taking the hospital’s reach to rural parts of the country.

(Image Courtesy: Alchetron)

Have we missed out on any names? Tell us about it! Comment on the box below to share your thoughts and opinions!