Nirmala Sitharaman, 3 other Indians on Forbes’ Most Powerful Women list
The other Indians are HCL Corp CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra, SAIL chairperson Soma Mondal, and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been ranked 32nd – up from 36th last year – in the Forbes list of 100 Most Powerful Women that also includes three Indian businesswomen and which is headed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
The other three Indians are HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank 60), Steel Authority of India chairperson Soma Mondal (70), and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (rank 76).
Sitharaman, now 64, was named the finance minister of India in 2019. She also holds the post of Union Corporate Affairs Minister. She was earlier India’s defence minister.
The second-highest ranked Indian woman is Roshni Nadar, the billionaire daughter of businessman Shiv Nadar. She took charge as the Chairperson of HCL in July 2020.
Mondal is the first woman chairperson of the state-run SAIL. Since 2021 she has led the steelmaker to record financial growth.
Forbes described Mazumdar-Shaw as one of India's richest self-made women. She founded the biopharmaceutical firm Biocon in 1978.
European Central Bank boss Christine Lagarde holds the second place in the list followed by US Vice-President Kamala Harris.
