SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw and HT Media Chair Shobhana Bhartia are among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to the Forbes’ annual list which is topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Two women of Indian-origin PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Cisco Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior also make the list. Forbes’s 12th annual list of the 100 most influential women feature extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary CEOs, politicians, celebrity role models, billionaire activists and pioneer philanthropists who are “transforming the world” and and have been “ranked by dollars, media presence and impact”.
The top 10 include US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (2), philanthriopist Melinda Gates (3), Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (3), GM CEO Mary Barra (5), IMF Chief Christine lagarde (6), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (7), Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (8), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (9) and US First lady Michelle Obama (10).
59-year-old Bhattacharya has been ranked 30th on the list, followed by Kochhar on the 35th spot, Mazumdar-Shaw (85) and newcomer on the list Bhartia is on the 93rd spot. On Bhattacharya, Forbes said she oversees 2,20,000 staff members in 16,000 branches and services 225 million customers at the country’s largest lender (assets $400 billion) with offices spread over 36 countries.