Six Indians have been named to Forbes’ annual list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar.
Sitharaman, who is ranked 36, has made the list for the fourth time in a row. The 63-year-old minister was ranked 37th on the list in 2021, after being 41st in 2020 and 34th in 2019.
HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank: 53), Securities And Exchange Board Of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch (rank: 54), and Steel Authority Of India Chairperson Soma Mondal are the other Indians on the list (rank: 67).
Last year, Malhotra, Mazumdar-Shaw, and Nayar were ranked 52nd, 72nd, and 88th on the prestigious list, respectively.
According to the Forbes list released on Tuesday, Mazumdar-Shaw is ranked 72 this year, while Nayar is ranked 89.
There are 39 CEOs on the list, 10 heads of state, and 11 billionaires worth a total of USD 115 billion.
The Forbes list highlighted Nayar’s profile, noting that he “worked as an investment banker for two decades, leading IPOs and helping other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. In 2012, she decided to work for herself, investing USD 2 million of her own savings to launch the beauty and retail company Nykaa. She took it public in 2021 and became India’s richest self-made woman”.
“Founded by her father, Shiv Nadar, in 1976, HCL became a central player in India’s rise as an IT hub,” it said.
Buch, 56, became the first female chair of the SEBI, which oversees India’s more than USD 3 trillion stock market ecosystem, on March 1.
Mondal, 59, became the first woman to lead the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in January 2021, and has overseen the company’s financial growth. According to Forbes, the company’s profits tripled to 120 billion rupees in her first year in charge.
Mazumdar-Shaw, 69, was described as one of India’s richest self-made women. In 1978, she founded India’s largest publicly traded biopharmaceutical company by revenue. The company has successfully entered the lucrative US market. According to the company, it has Asia’s largest insulin factory in Malaysia’s Johor region.
“The list was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence. For political leaders, we weighed gross domestic products and populations; for corporate leaders, revenues and employee counts; and media mentions and reach of all. The result is a collection of women who are fighting the status quo,” According to the website.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tops the 19th annual Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women for her leadership during the Ukraine war and her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Her influence is unique — no one else on the list formulates policy on behalf of 450 million people — but her commitment to a free and democratic society is not. Von der Leyen is just one face of the biggest storyline of 2022: women acting as stalwarts for democracy,” the website emphasised.
While European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is ranked second, US Vice President Kamala Harris is ranked third.
Iran’s Jina “Mahsa” Amini, ranked 100, has made the influential list posthumously. Her death in September sparked an unprecedented women-led revolution in the Islamic nation for their rights.