Eight Indians feature in Forbes' Power Businesswomen list
Forbes' 'Asia's 50 Power Businesswomen 2016' featured Nita Ambani, Director/Chairman-Reliance Industries and Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman & MD-SBI in the first and second ranks respectively. Eight Indian women have made the cut in the 2016 list from various business fields. Other Indians on the list include Chanda Kochhar-ICICI Bank, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw-Biocon, Ambiga Dhiraj-Mu Sigma, Dipali Goenka-Welspun India, Vinita Gupta-Lupin, and Vandana Luthra-VLCC.
'Forbes' is an American global business magazine published by Forbes Inc, with its headquarters in New Jersey. It was founded in 1917 by BC Forbes and Walter Drey in New York. In 2014, Forbes had moved to the Jersey City. The bi-weekly magazine is popular for its rankings and lists released annually, which list out the top companies, entrepreneurs, and other related fields.
Apart from Forbes magazine, several other publication titles of Forbes Inc. include Forbes Life, Forbes Asia, Forbes On Radio, ForbesWoman, American Legacy (till 2007), American Heritage (till 2007), Invention & Technology (till 2007) and Forbes Travel Guide.
The inaugural list of Forbes' 'Top 50 Power Businesswomen in Asia' was released in 2012. The businesswomen were chosen for their excellent management and practical approach to their work. Moira Forbes, President-ForbesWoman, stated that through their list they celebrated the dynamism of those businesswomen, who were driving Asia's growth. However, Forbes added that in the workplace, many Asian women still faced issues of inequality.
Forbes in a statement said: "Through their respective realms of power and influence, these honorees span diverse industries, nations, and generations, yet each has changed the face of Asian business while creating opportunities for future leaders."
Indonesian businesswoman, Karen Agustiawan, President, Director and CEO-Pertamina Company, was ranked the no.1 power businesswoman. In the second and third places were Indian businesswomen, Vinita Bali, MD-Britannia Industries, and Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and ED-HT Media respectively. Other Indians ranked in the list: Ekta Kapoor-Balaji Telefilms, Chanda Kochhar-ICICI Bank, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw-Biocon Ltd, Zia Modi-AZB & Partners, Shikha Sharma-Axis Bank and Mallika Srinivasan-Tractors & Farm Equipment.
Out of the 50 businesswomen in the first edition, 21 women belonged to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Eight women were from India and five were from Singapore. The remaining belonged to Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Shobhana Bhartia topped the 2013 Forbes' list. Seven Indian businesswomen including Chanda Kochhar, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw featured in the list. Karen Agustiawan ranked first, and Arundhati Bhattacharya-SBI ranked third in 2014. The list featured a total of seven Indian businesswomen. Gina Rinehart of Australia took the first spot on the 2015 list, which included six Indian businesswomen including Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chanda Kochhar, and Shikha Sharma.
