The 50 Most Powerful Women

There was a time when you didn’t see too many Indian women in corporate boardrooms and corner offices. Over the years, the balance has shifted; today, the number of women in senior roles in the business world has leapt dramatically—and they’re steadily climbing the corporate ladder in every field from banking and technology to law and healthcare. Over the past nine years, Fortune India has acknowledged the efforts of these women through the annual list of 50 of India’s Most Powerful Women in business.

- Anshul Dhamija, Arnika Thakur, Ashish Gupta, Aveek Datta, Debojyoti Ghosh, Prerna Lidhoo, Rajiv Bhuva, And T. Surendar

Last year saw a lot of churn at the top: Arundhati Bhattacharya, who was No. 1 in 2017, retired as SBI chairman and ICICI chief Chanda Kochhar dropped off the list after allegations of a conflict of interest. Zia Mody, one of India’s leading corporate lawyers known for her fierce negotiating skills, was No. 1, followed by Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who has put Indian biotechnology on the global map.

Mody and Mazumdar-Shaw are still at the top of this year’s elite power list. And Bhattacharya makes a comeback to the list after a one-year hiatus, on the back of an impressive list of private sector engagements including as an independent director on the boards of oil-to-yarn and telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, IT major Wipro, and SWIFT India, the local arm of the global financial messaging platform.

We also have some new entrants: Jyotsna Suri, the chairperson and managing director of Bharat Hotels, makes her debut this year. Suri took over after her husband Lalit Suri’s sudden death in 2006. Since then, she has turned around the chain and taken it from six to 14 hotels with a series of bold decisions that has made her a force to be reckoned with in the hospitality industry. Another new entrant to the list is Simran Lal, chief executive officer of Good Earth and cofounder of Nicobar, who has built one of India’s most successful luxury lifestyle brands in the fashion, home, and wellness categories. For the 2019 list, the period under review was July 2018 to June 2019.

Read on about India’s most powerful women in business who with their sharp acumen and savvy approach have built companies, struck massive corporate deals, or developed brands as they took their firms to the top.

01. ZIA MODY

63, co-founder AZB & Partners ( 01) PHOTOGRAPH BY NARENDRA BISHT