Sitharaman, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw among Forbes' 100 powerful women

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra have made it to the ‘Forbes’ 2020 100 most powerful women’ list.

However, the rankings of all three women have fallen from last year. Sitharaman who was ranked 34th last year, has been ranked 41st this time, while Mazumdar-Shaw is three rankings down at 68th, while Nadar Malhotra is down one spot to 55th.

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Sitharaman is India’s first woman Finance Minister. She was also the country’s first woman defence minister. Nadar Malhotra assumed the role of chairperson of HCL Technologies from her father Shiv Nadar. Mazumdar-Shaw founded biopharmaceutical giant Biocon.

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The Forbes 2020 list features New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who earned recognition for her deft handling of the COVID-19 situation in her country. The first spot went to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has consistently held the rank since 2006, except in 2010, when former US first Lady Michelle Obama bagged the top spot.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde ranked second, followed by US Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris.