Nirmala Sitharaman is ranked higher than prominent female personalities like Beyonce (Rank 36), Rihanna (Rank 74) and Donna Langley (Rank 54).
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New Delhi: Business magazine Forbes has released its annual list of the World’s Most Powerful Women for 2023. The Forbes’ list, which also features personalities like Taylor Swift and US Vice President Kamala Harris, mentioned Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as the highest-ranking Indian woman. It also named three Indian businesswomen along with FM Sitharaman.
These women have not only shattered glass ceilings but also etched their names on the global stage, showcasing the diverse and influential voices emerging from India. To determine the rank, Forbes had four metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence.
While Nirmala Sitharaman was on the 32nd spot on the Forbes list, the other three Indian women named in the list are HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank 60), Steel Authority of India chairperson Soma Mondal (rank 70), and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (rank 76).
Nirmala Sitharaman is ranked higher than prominent female personalities like Beyonce (Rank 36), Rihanna (Rank 74) and Donna Langley (Rank 54).
About Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as India’s finance minister in May 2019, and is also the minister for corporate affairs.
She is India’s first full-time female finance minister.
Before her career in politics, Sitharaman held roles at the U.K.-based Agricultural Engineers Association and BBC World Service.
She has also served as a member of the National Commission for Women.
About Roshni Nadar Malhotra
Malhotra is the chairperson for HCLTech, a multinational IT services and consulting firm based in India.
She’s responsible for all strategic decisions for the $12 billion technology company.
Founded by her father, Shiv Nadar, in 1976, HCL became a central player in India’s rise as an IT hub.
Malhotra took HCL’s chairperson role from her father in July 2020.
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She is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is focused on education and has established some of India’s top colleges and schools.
About Soma Mondal
Soma Mondal became the first woman to chair the state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in January 2021.
She has led the steelmaker to record financial growth since taking over: the company’s profits surged surged threefold to 120 billion rupees in her first year at the helm.
Mondal first became a director for the company in 2017. She’s responsible for launching an 80,000-million-rupee effort to expand production capacity.
She has more than three decades of experience in the metals industry. After graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering, she joined state-run National Aluminium Co.
About Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, one of India’s richest self-made women, founded biopharmaceutical firm Biocon, in 1978. The firm has successfully forayed into the lucrative U.S. market.
The company has Asia’s largest insulin factory in Malaysia’s Johor region.
In February 2022, Biocon Biologics inked a deal to acquire the biosimilars business of Viatris for $3.3 billion.
In June 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a Biocon Biologics executive and four others in an alleged bribery case. The company denied any wrongdoing.
In April 2023, vaccine billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of Life Sciences doubled its investment in Biocon Biologics, a Biocon subsidiary, to $300 million.
Here are the Top 10 Most Powerful Women in the World:
Ursula von der Leyen: Politics & Policy, Belgium
Christine Lagarde: Politics & Policy, Germany
Kamala Harris: Politics & Policy, United States
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Giorgia Meloni: Politics & Policy, Italy
Taylor Swift: Media & Entertainment, United States
Karen Lynch: Business, United States
Jane Fraser: Finance, United States
Abigail Johnson: Finance, United States
Mary Barra: Business, United States
Melinda French Gates: Philanthropy, United States
