The 50 Most Powerful Women In Business

SINCE 2011, it has been an annual exercise at Fortune India to put out a list of the 50 Most Powerful Women (MPW) in Business. Every year, Fortune India’s journalists make sure that the list reflects the achievements of women leaders in their chosen fields of business. The list is always an indicative one, as we pick the top 50. Like always, this year’s MPW list was compiled based on a broad set of parameters which includes the impact of the business on the Indian economy, the financial health of the business, longevity of the person’s career, and, importantly, her social and cultural influence. For the 2020 list, the period under review was between July 2019 and June 2020. In the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, though, we extended the review period to September 2020. And those who made the cut did so because they were at the forefront in the fight against the pandemic, navigated their businesses successfully through a tough period, and in some cases even struck multibillion dollar corporate deals.

- Abhik Sen, Anshul Dhamija, Arnav Das Sharma, Debojyoti Ghosh, Prerna Lidhoo, And Rajiv Bhuva.

1 NITA AMBANI

57, non-executive director, Reliance Industries; co-owner, Mumbai Indians (New)

The first lady of India Inc. is a powerhouse in her own right and has been successful in every project she has taken up. Consider the IPL team Mumbai Indians: It has a brand value of a little over 800 crore as of 2019, and is a four-time winner of the tournament.

2 ZIA MODY 64, co-founder, AZB & Partners

SHE REMAINS THE undisputed queen of corporate law. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) raised $20 billion in FDI for its digital services company, Jio Platforms, and AZB & Partners was the legal representative for RIL. Given that a large portion of the fund-raise happened when India was in lockdown, it was practically a virtual deal from beginning to end. Besides, her firm also advised RIL on its massive $7-billion rights issue, which closed in June this year. Mody has also significantly expanded the insolvency, bankruptcy, and restructuring practice at her firm. AZB & Partners also worked on the restructuring of the troubled YES Bank. It was the first time that a large private sector bank in India was restructured under a scheme that was put in place by the Reserve Bank of India. Her firm is part of various committees constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which looks into the refinement of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. AZB & Partners also represents the Resolution Professional in Jet Airways’ ongoing insolvency proceedings.