India's richest women list: Smitha Crishna tops it
What's the story
We've heard enough about India's richest people. Now, in the first-ever survey of its kind in India, Kotak Wealth-Hurun has compiled a list of India's wealthiest women which features the third-generation heir of the Godrej empire, Smitha Crishna, as India's richest woman. With more and more women coming into recognized forms of wealth creation, we can all agree that such a list was needed.
Survey
The first-ever survey is an 'acknowledgement' of women's contributions
Kotak Wealth-Hurun used multiple parameters including industry parameters like price-to-earnings, price-to-sales etc. to calculate wealth and prepare the list. "The ranking recognizes India's leading women - entrepreneurs, businesswomen, investors and inheritors...The report acknowledges the Indian woman's role in creating wealth in one of the fastest growing economies in the world," said Jaideep Hansraj, CEO, Wealth Management & Priority Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Top rankings
The top five in the list
Smitha Crishna's top-ranked net worth of Rs. 37,570cr is followed by HCL CEO and Executive Director Roshni Nadar's Rs. 30,200cr. Occupying the third spot is Times Group chairperson, Indu Jain, with a net worth Rs. 26,240cr. Ranked fourth is Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw with a net worth of Rs. 24,790cr, the only self-made woman in the list. Fifth is HCL's Kiran Nadar (Rs. 20,120cr).
Other details
Other notable details about the list
The youngest woman in the rankings is Outcome Health co-founder Shradha Agarwal, with a net worth of Rs. 8,200cr. In a sector-wise breakdown, 22% of India's top 100 wealthiest women come from the pharmaceutical sector, while 18% hail from the software services sector. Location-wise, over 50 of the top 100 are from New Delhi or Mumbai. Notably, the list also includes eight Padma awardees.
Editor's note
List marks a break; India has a long road ahead
The list marks a long-awaited departure from the usual, men-only approach adopted in India when it comes to its richest people, but we have a long way to go in terms of economically recognizing women. While this, women-only list acknowledges recognized forms of wealth, a large section of work done by women within the household still goes unrecognized as forms of economic labor.