Nirmala Sitharaman among 4 Indians in Forbes' most powerful women list
PTC News Desk: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was ranked 32nd on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful women, which also included US Vice President Kamala Harris and musician Taylor Swift.
Other Indian women on the list include HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank 60), Steel Authority of India chairperson Soma Mondal (rank 70), and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (rank 76).
The list featured European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Rank 1, followed by European Central Bank boss Christine Lagarde at Rank 2 and US Vice President Kamal Harris at third spot.
Sitharaman was appointed India's first full-time Finance Minister in May 2019 and also serves as the Minister of Corporate Affairs. Before entering politics, she worked for the Agricultural Engineers Association in the United Kingdom and the BBC World Service, according to Forbes. She also served on the National Commission on Women.
Malhotra is the daughter of Shiv Nadar, the founder of HCL. According to Forbes, as the chairperson of HCL Technologies, she is in charge of all strategic decisions for the company. In July 2020, she took over the role from her father.
According to Forbes, Mondal is the first woman to lead the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL). Her profile stated that since taking over as the leader in 2021, she has led the steelmaker to record financial growth, with profits tripling in her first year.
According to Forbes, Mazumdar-Shaw is one of India's richest self-made women. In 1978, she founded the biopharmaceutical company Biocon, which has Asia's largest insulin factory in Malaysia's Johor region.
- With inputs from agencies
