Most Powerful Businesswomen 2016

Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director, TCS

Aarthi Subramanian is known for her determination to not settle for anything but the best. One of her most challenging assignments after she became Executive Director was the Passport Seva Project for complete makeover and digitisation of the passport issuing process.

Alice G. Vaidyan, Chairman and MD, GIC

Alice G. Vaidyan is known to take up new challenges and making a success out of it. It was this single-minded focus on taking up newer challenges that took her to the top at General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re).

Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Group

When private equity company India Value Fund (IVF) decided to exit its investment in FM radio company Radio City last year, it chose to not take the conventional route of getting investment bankers to initiate conversations with prospective buyers. Instead, it asked the then CEO of Radio City, Apurva Purohit, to do the needful.

Ashu Suyash, MD and CEO, Crisil

Crisil's revenue has seen an upswing under Ashu Suyash's innovation-led agenda. Ashu Suyash took over as Managing Director and CEO of rating agency Crisil in June 2015, at a time of great uncertainty for the company.

Zarin Daruwala, CEO, Standard Chartered India

This year, this banker made a big career shift, moving from ICICI Bank to a 158-year-old foreign bank in India. "What attracted me is that it is the top job in India," explains Zarin Daruwala, who now heads Standard Chartered Bank in India, the largest foreign bank in terms of branches.

Chitra Ramakrishna, MD and CEO, National Stock Exchange

Chitra Ramakrishna, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange always believe that our women are unique in many ways as they come with stronger social values, ethos, diversity, resilience, etc.

Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms

The queen of television soap operas says 24 hours in a day are not enough for her. She is, after all, the creator of the most hit shows on Indian television. It is television that keeps the cash registers of her Rs 247-crore content company ringing as the Bollywood foray has been a mixed success so far.

Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director, ICICI Bank

Kaku Nakhate, President and Country Head, Bank of America

2015 has been a record year for the bank in India, with the country emerging as the most profitable market in the Asia-Pacific region for it. All credit goes to Nakhate, President & Country Head at BoAML.

Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Director, IBM India

Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Director, IBM India brought global tech major IBM back in the swing. And IBM complements Narayanan well. After all, the global tech major has not only survived for over a century, but has retained its identity and competitive edge in a fast-changing environment.

Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas

From being the 'Queen of the Courts' to being at the helm of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Pallavi Shroff's ascent in the world of law has been phenomenal.

Usha Sangwan, Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation

Usha Sangwan's digital initiatives are helping LIC get ready for the future. Sangwan is part of the top team working to make LIC ready for the future.

Priya Nair, Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever

Priya Nair, Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever began her innings with Hindustan Unilever in 1995 as a management trainee and has risen through the ranks to become Executive Director (Home Care Division).

Rekha Menon, MD and Chairman, Accenture India

MD & Chairman of Accenture India, Rekha Menon's discipline and passion has helped her manage the 140,000 employees of Accenture India and ensure the Indian operations continue to remain core to the global technology major.

Sonali Kulkarni, President and CEO, Fanuc India

Sonali Kulkarni, President & CEO, Fanuc India leads the Indian operations of the world's leading CNC and robot seller. She has added substantially to the customer base of Fanuc India over the past year.

Shanti Ekambaram, President, Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank

Shanti Ekambaram, President, Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra has launched several digital products such as multi-lingual banking app, alpha saving accounts and apps for transfer of money through social media, since she took charge in 2014.

The First Ladies' Club

In the mid-1970s, when women started pursuing professional education - engineering, accountancy, business administration - outlooks changed and it progressively started to change things on the ground.

Under Schauna Chauhan, Parle Agro is growing despite all odds

Parle Agro Pvt Ltd had registered a revenue of Rs 1,260.99 crore in the financial year ended in March 2015, up 26 per cent over the previous financial year. The net profit rose to Rs 107 crore from a loss of Rs  66 lakh in the same period.

Mulye has managed to make all her stints at ICICI count

The 47-year-old Vishakha Mulye, who started as a corporate banker at the erstwhile financial institution ICICI Ltd, recently completed two productive stints at the group's subsidiaries - ICICI Lombard General Insurance and ICICI Venture.

How Vanitha Narayanan brought IBM back in the swing

According to Narayanan, her competitive attitude dates back to her growing-up years. "I had a mother, who, when told, that I had got 96 in math, would ask 'why did you lose those four marks?' So, I am a bit of a perfectionist and driven to win."

The best is yet to come for Lupin: Vinita Gupta

I have always been inherently passionate and ambitious about work and family, and perhaps it has a lot to do with my genes. Growing up, it was often hard to separate the family from the business of Lupin.