The India Expert

While half of India’s women are illiterate and many who are  in poverty have little power and freedom, a different picture emerges at the highest echelons of power and education in the country. In politics, government and in corporate boardrooms women abound.   Here is a sampling of some names who have reached heights that their American sisters would envy. Only a few got to the pinnacle because of birth or marriage.

India’s most powerful women include

• Neelam Dhawan, 49, Managing Director of Hewlett Packard India
• Naina Lal Kidwai, 52, Country Head, HSBC India
• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, 56, Managing Director, Biocon (and India’s wealthiest self-made woman)
• Kalpana Morparia, 60, CEO of JP Morgan India
• Amrita Patel, 66 , Chairman, National Dairy Development Board
• Chitra Ramakrishna, 46, Joint Managing Director, National Stock Exchange Ltd
• Preetha Reddy, 52, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group
• Shikha Sharma, 50, CEO Axis Bank
• Renu Sud Karnad, 57, Joint Managing Director, Housing Development & Finance Corporation (HDFC)
• Jyotsna Suri, 57, Managing Director, Bharat (“Lalit”) Hotels
• Meera Shankar, 60, India’s Ambassador to the United States
• Indu Lieberhan, Secretary, Defence Finance
• Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Party

For an “official” list of the thirty most powerful women in India today, look here.

Posted on December 31st, 2009 by Gunjan

California-based management consultant Gunjan Bagla runs Amritt, a consulting firm helping American companies to succeed in India. He is author of Business in 21st Century India: How to Profit Today from Tomorrow’s Most Exciting Market (Hachette Book Group, July 2008).