In a male dominated world, where a business tycoon is often mistaken as a man who rules the industry, there are several Indian women who have carved a niche for themselves and are known to be equal, and sometimes more powerful than male fraternity of business. By tracking the achievements of these successful Indian women, we have created this list of top five who presently rein the corporate world with their sharp & matchless business acumen.
Indra Nooyi – Chairperson & CEO of PepsiCo
Indra Nooyi is a name that needs no introduction. From Forbes to Fortune & Wall Street Journal, she has been named several times among the powerful women to watch. Indra completed her initial studies in India and is the alumnus of IIM Calcutta. She joined Yale School of Management in 1978 and Boston Consulting Group later. After gaining experience as a strategist in Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri, she joined PepsoCo.
There have been major business deals in her name, be it the act of acquiring Tropicana or merging with Quaker Oats Company. A mother of two children and a US citizen (through naturalization), this woman is the biggest inspiration of several female entrepreneurs all over the world.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw– Managing Director, Biocon Ltd.
A graduate from Bangalore University, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw started Biocon India with the capital of Rs. 10,000. She was keen to study medical science after completing graduation but could not get a scholarship for that. She further enrolled for studying malting & brewing and worked as trainee brewer ahead. After coming back from Australia, looking for the position of brewmaster in India turned out to be a disappointment as people perceived it as a ‘man’s job’. But, nothing could deter her pursuit and she finally found the way to start a business.
After working briefly at Biocon Biochemicals Limited, of Cork, Ireland, Kiran started Biocon India in 1978. The company which initially struggled for funding today has the net income of $3.61 billion and ranks among top ventures of India. Kiran has also been featured among top entrepreneurs of TIME magazine & 100 powerful women of Forbes.
Chanda Kochhar- CEO and MD, ICICI Bank
A business tycoon, as she is known to be, Chanda Kochhar is among the top fifty powerful women of Forbes 2014 list. She started her career as a management trainee with ICICI and later played a key role in the expansion. Chanda was born in a family in Rajasthan and had a vast educational background as she did B.A, MBA, ICWA, MMS (Finance). Her journey as deputy managing director began in 2006. There onwards she handled various roles from corporate, retail to international business.
Chanda has been awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2011 i.e. the second highest civilian award of republic India. As an MD of ICICI, she is currently taking care of a venture with $125 billion of assets and has been credited recently for 14% profit increase.
Shikha Sharma– Managing director, CEO of Axis Bank
Shikha Sharma heads India’s third largest private bank and is a proud alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad. She was born and brought up in an army family and attended various schools in her childhood days. She started he career with ICICI and played a crucial role in the growth and development of one of the India’s top private banks. A workaholic, as people knew her since then, Shikha Sharma took ICICI to new heights. She earned special mentions for handling insurance sector and setting up retail finance of ICICI.
Axis Bank was a challenge when she joined, as commercial banking was something new to her. Shikha accepted all challenges and paved way for Axis’ success. As of 2012, the bank reported having Rs. 340 billion revenue and net income of Rs. 52 billion. With a substantial work stint of almost three decades and several honors as a banker to her credit, she is the inspiration for new-age women who want to make a mark in the corporate world.
Ekta Kapoor – Founder, Joint Managing Director & Creative Director Balaji Telefilms
The queen of Indian television industry, this woman specializes in wearing many hats in one life, director, producer & capitalist. She is a businesswoman who added new heights to Indian television, that too at a very young age. Ekta started her entrepreneurial journey with Balaji in November 1994 when she was just 19. Since then she has set a strong example by completing 15,000 hours of television content. Followed by the success of many serials & hit movies, this power woman ranks among the top business tycoons of India. After the immediate success of a show in 2000, Ekta expanded wings and Balaji became public limited company and merged with Nine Network Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. Today Balaji owns three more subsidiaries- Motion Pictures, ALT Entertainment & BOLT Media Limited and has net income of US$1.6 million.
Academic excellence, awe-inspiring decision making, determination and faith in dreams, is what made these Indian women successful and capable of proving their grit. Their life tales not only act as motivating success stories but also puts forward a picture of evolved India.
Know more women entrepreneurs like them? Share about them in comments section.
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