INDIAN WOMEN AMONG THE FORBES 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN: 32ND POSITION

• Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as India’s finance minister in May 2019, and is also the minister for corporate affairs.
• She is India’s first full-time female finance minister.
• Before her career in politics, Sitharaman held roles at the U.K.-based Agricultural Engineers Association and BBC World Service.
• She has also served as a member of the National Commission for Women.

Nirmala Sitharaman, born on August 18, 1959, is an Indian politician and economist. She is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India since 2019. Sitharaman has been instrumental in shaping economic policies and reforms in the country.

Ms. Sitharaman obtained a Master of Arts degree in economics and M.Phil. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics at the Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchirapalli.

ROSHNI NADAR MALHOTRA: 60TH POSITION

CEO HCL Corporation & Chairperson,, HCL Technologies

• Malhotra is the chairperson for HCLTech, a multinational IT services and consulting firm based in India.
• She’s responsible for all strategic decisions for the $12 billion technology company.
• Founded by her father, Shiv Nadar, in 1976, HCL became a central player in India’s rise as an IT hub.
• Malhotra took HCL’s chairperson role from her father in July 2020.She is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is focused on education and has established some of India’s top colleges and schools.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, born in 1982, is an Indian businesswoman and the Chairperson of HCL Technologies, a leading global IT services company. She is the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India. Roshni is known for her contributions to business and philanthropy, actively engaging in various social initiatives.

Roshni holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Northwestern University and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW:76TH POSITION

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur. She is the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India and the former chairperson of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, one of India’s richest self-made women, founded biopharmaceutical firm Biocon, in 1978. The firm has successfully forayed into the lucrative U.S. market.
• The company has Asia’s largest insulin factory in Malaysia’s Johor region.
• In February 2022, Biocon Biologics inked a deal to acquire the biosimilars business of Viatris for $3.3 billion.
• In June 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a Biocon Biologics executive and four others in an alleged bribery case. The company denied any wrongdoing.
• In April 2023, vaccine billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of Life Sciences doubled its investment in Biocon Biologics, a Biocon subsidiary, to $300 million.

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