Nirmala Sitharaman and Five other Indians are among Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 8 December 2022

On Forbes' annual list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, six Indians were included, including the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CEO of Biocon, and Falguni Nayar, founder of Nykaa.

The list has featured Ms. Sitharaman four times in a row, and she is now ranked number 36. Following rankings of 41st in 2020 and 34th in 2019, the 63-year-old minister was placed 37th on the list in 2021.

The other Indians on the list are Soma Mondal, head of the Steel Authority of India, Madhabi Puri Buch, chair of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chair of HCL Technologies.

The three women who made the elite list the previous year, Ms. Malhotra, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw, and Ms. Nayar, were placed 52, 72, and 88, respectively.

This year, Ms. Nayar and Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw are ranked 72 and 89, respectively, on the Forbes list.

The list includes 10 heads of state, 39 CEOs, and 11 billionaires with a collective net worth of $115 billion.

In highlighting Ms. Nayar's career, Forbes noted that the 59-year-old professional "worked as an investment banker for two decades, supervising IPOs and assisting other entrepreneurs achieve their goals." In 2012, she made the choice to establish her own firm, and she put $2 million of her own money into Nykaa, a cosmetics and retail venture.

Last year, Ms. Malhotra, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw, and Ms. Nayar also made the elite list, landing in positions 52, 72, and 88, respectively.

According to the Forbes list, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw is ranked 72 this year and Ms. Nayar is ranked 89.

The list consists of 11 billionaires with a combined net worth of $115 billion, 39 CEOs, and 10 heads of state.

The Forbes list highlighted Ms. Nayar's career, noting that the 59-year-old businesswoman "worked as an investment banker for two decades, overseeing IPOs and helping other entrepreneurs accomplish their objectives. She made the decision to go into business for herself in 2012 and invested $2 million of her own funds to start the cosmetics and retail business Nykaa.