Group Picture of Winners- Photo by Milind Shelte
Group Picture of Winners- Photo by Milind ShelteThe 18th edition of Business Today's Most Powerful Women (MPW) event was held in Mumbai and celebrated the role of women in leadership, strategic skills, and influence during the period from October 2020 to September 2021.
The awards were given to 52 iconic women, including 46 from India and six female champions from overseas, who are of Indian origin, in their respective fields. This year’s India list has 17 debutants, the most in any year since the list was launched. It has broken the earlier record of 16 debutants in 2013.
The panellists handling the awards were: Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group; Uday Kotak, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank; and Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment, Government of Maharashtra.
Business Today, in 2003, was the first publication to identify India’s Most Powerful Women highlighting the achievements in the areas of business, economy and policy. Over the years, it has become the most coveted recognition for women leaders in the country.
The BT-MPW awards are aimed at honouring remarkable Indian women who made outstanding contributions in their organisations and set new standards of performance across the nation. The event felicitates the most powerful women in Indian business and salutes the spirit of their success with a special issue on 'Most Powerful Women' in Indian Business.
Here are some of the best moments from the event:
Veteran banker KV Kamath, who's hailed for nurturing women leaders during his stint at ICICI Bank, joined Sourav Majumdar, Editor, Business Today for a fireside chat BT's Most Powerful Women awards.
"There is no job that a woman cannot do," Kamath said.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak joined Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor, Business Today Television, for a fireside chat at BT's Most Powerful Women awards, and spoke about how women are breaking stereotypes in BFSI and proving to be more efficient than men in many tasks.
In a panel with Aabha Bakaya, Senior Editor & Anchor, Business Today TV - Welspun MD-CEO Dipali Goenka; Avaana Capital Founder Anjali Bansal; Viacom 18 CEO Jyoti Deshpande; and LXME Founder Priti Rathi Gupta - spoke about the need for including men in conversations on workplace equality.
In another panel, Ashima Goyal, Member, RBI MPC; Suparna Mitra, CEO - Watches & Wearables, Titan Company; Vibha Padalkar, MD-CEO, HDFC Life; and Parizad Sirwalla, Partner, KPMG weighed in on the need for female mentors & flexible policies for women in the workforce.
In a chat with Rahul Kanwal, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray acknowledged the contribution of women in his govt. "Shiv Sena has given tickets to 67% women in BMC elections," Thackeray said.
Minister Aaditya Thackeray also gave away the awards and spent some candid moments with Uday Kotak and India Today Group Chairperson Aroon Purie.
"In the early 2000s, women were not as spread out across multiple industries, even male-dominated ones such as core manufacturing, as they are today. So, our listing was initially dominated by women bankers and promoters, with a sprinkling of executives from the media and entertainment industry and sundry other sectors making up the rest... Having attended most of Business Today’s MPW awards, I can safely say that I have literally seen the evolution of India’s women leadership before my eyes,” Purie said in his closing note.
The list of winners are-
DEBUTANTS
RETURNEES
REPEATS FROM 2020
GLOBAL LIST
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