5 top female Indian business

tycoons
This list has 5 top female Indian business tycoons. A few years ago when any one talked about
women in Indian business, the only name prominent enough to be mentioned was perhaps that of
Indra Nooyi (the CEO of PepsiCo). But that was a long time back. Indian women are now fast
making a mark in all forms of businesses. Media, banking, education, financial services or
manufacturing, nearly all sectors have a woman on top. Female entrepreneurs too, are on a rise in
India, and it is difficult to ignore them. We havent mentioned Ekta Kapoor because the women
in this list have actually made a difference in the lives of families. Below are the hardworking
smart professional women who have transformed everything they touched into gold.

5. Priya Paul (Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park

Hotels):
At the age of ten Priya Paul was clear that eventually she would be an entrepreneur, but her
entry into the hotel industry was a decision made by the family; a fortuitous selection out of their
portfolio of shipping, tea, real estate and construction, hospitality and financial services. She did
complete justice to it by joining the Park Hotel, Delhi, after completing her BA in Economics at
Wellesley College, in 1988. Her contributions in the field of hospitality have been repeatedly
recognized and she has received several awards and citations, including the Young Entrepreneur
of the Year award (19992000) conferred by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants
Association of India. One of the five famous female Indian business tycoons, Priya was also
nominated for The Economic Times Awards as the Businessperson of the year (20022003) and
was honoured with the Padma Sri on the eve of the Republic Day, January 2012.

4. Swati Piramal (Vice Chairperson of Piramal Life Sciences

Limited, Director of Piramal Healthcare Limited):
She founded the Gopikrishna Piramal Memorial Hospital in 1983 a charitable hospital with
services for the under-privileged out-patient clinic to free diabetes and hypertension treatment
for the needy. She has also co-authored Eat your Way to Good Health with Mrs. Tarla Dalal. An
article in the Business Week called Dr. Piramal one of Indias most charismatic leaders with a
passion for Indian science. She has been nominated in the Hall of Fame as one of the most
powerful women in India in 2011. And all this because she has contributed towards innovations
in Public Health Services and other projects, which if we start to list, will hardly leave us enough
space for anyone else.

3. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Entrepreneur):

A big name among female Indian business tycoons, Kiran is the Chairman & Managing
Director of Biocon Limited a biotechnology company based in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India.
Her humble beginnings were in joining Biocon Biochemicals Limited, of Cork, Ireland, in 1978,
as a Trainee Manager and in the same year she starting Biocon in the garage of her rented house
in Bangalore with a seed capital of Rs. 10,000. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is responsible for
steering Biocon on a trajectory of growth and innovation over the years. Within a year of its
inception, Biocon became the first Indian company to manufacture and export enzymes to USA
and Europe. In 1989, Biocon became the first Indian biotech company to receive US funding for
proprietary technologies. In 2004, Shaw decided to access the capital markets to develop
Biocons pipeline of research programs. Biocons IPO was oversubscribed 32 times and its first
day at the bourses closed with a market value of $1.11 billion, making Biocon only the second
Indian company to cross the $1-billion mark on the first day of listing.

2. Naina Lal Kidwai (Head, HBSC Bank):

Long before the expression dealmaker became commonplace in India, 54-year-old Naina Lal
Kidwai, currently country head of HSBC, was one of the biggest dealmakers in the country. She
was also one of the first women to enter the formerly male bastion of investment banking and
rise spectacularly. Her other positions include being a non-executive director on the board of
Nestle SA, Chairwoman, City of Londons Advisory Council for India, Global Advisor, Harvard
Business School. Kidwai has repeatedly ranked in the Fortune global list of Top Women in
Business, 12th in the Wall Street Journal 2006 Global Listing of Women to Watch, and listed by
Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influentials, 2002.

1. Chanda Kochhar (MD and CEO, ICICI Bank):

She is currently the Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
ICICI Bank is Indias largest private bank and overall second largest bank in the country. She
also heads the Corporate Centre of ICICI Bank making her a strong name in the list of top
female Indian business tycoons. Under Kochhars leadership, ICICI Bank won the Best Retail
Bank in India award in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Excellence in Retail Banking Award
in 2002; both awards was given by The Asian Banker. Chanda Kochhar was awarded Retail
Banker of the Year 2004 (Asia-Pacific region) by the Asian Banker, Business Woman of the
Year 2005 by The Economic Times and Rising Star Award at Global Awards 2006 by Retail
Banker International. Her responsibilities at the bank include managing the global treasury,
principal investments & trading, risk management and legal functions and also guidance on day
to day administrative matters.