In a male-dominated world of business, these Indian women have broken all barriers to get to the top
Name: Chanda Kochhar
Role: Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Company: ICICI Bank Limited
Chanda began her career with ICICI as a Management Trainee in 1984 and has thereon successfully risen through the ranks by handling multidimensional assignments and heading all the major functions in the Bank at various points in time.
Name: Vinita Bali
Role: Managing Director
Company: Britannia Industries
Vinita has always made unconventional decisions. Rising prices of wheat, sugar and dairy products affect her as much as they do every housewife.
Name: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Role: Chairman and Managing Director
Company: Biocon India
Kiran is India’s bio-tech queen. She says in a an interview to Forbes India that she learnt the importance of self-reliance and personal re-invention at an early age. From starting of with Rs 10,000 in a garage her company Bioconis today worth Rs. 1,511 crore.
Name: Mallika Srinivasan
Role: Chairman and CEO
Company: TAFE
Mallika believes in a no-frills working style. She has risen to become India's tractor woman making an indelible impression in a heavily male-dominated industry. TAFE's turnover, a mere Rs86 crore in 1985 - the year she joined - had risen to Rs5,800 crore by 2010/11
Name: Ekta Kapoor
Role: Joint Managing Director and Creative Director
Company: Balaji Telefilms
Ekta has created a niche for herself as the queen of the silver screen soaps. She rules almost every television network.
Name: Neelam Dhawan
Role: Managing Director
Company: Hewlett-Packard India
Neelam has been an icon for women in the IT industry. There were just a handful women in the industry way back in the early 80s when she began her career accidentally at HCL.
Name: Preetha Reddy
Role: Managing Director
Company: Apollo Hospitals
Preetha has been instrumental in the group's quality certification process (ISO 14001 and 9001). As a trailblazer, she ensured the JCI accreditation process in five of the group hospitals in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ludhiana and Dhaka. Apollo Hospitals group is India's
largest healthcare company.
Name: Shobhana Bhartia
Role: Chairperson and Editorial Director
Company: Hindustan Times Media
Shobhana, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, also runs one of India's largest media houses. HT Media made revenues of Rs 1,815 crore in 2010/11.