BT Most Powerful Women in Business: A glittering line-up of women making it big in the corporate world

India is a country where nearly half the population consists of women. According to World Bank data from 2022, women constitute 48.4 per cent of India’s population. India has a woman President, a woman Finance Minister, a woman heading markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and the heads of the Competition Commission of India and even the Railway Board are women. Women are also playing critical roles in India’s space ambition. And yet, when viewed from a macro perspective, there’s still a lot of work to be done. But the good news is that things are changing. Today’s Indian woman is keen to break barriers and carve out her niche, and we are increasingly witnessing several such examples in the world of business in particular. Many women are shattering stereotypes, coming into male-dominated sectors, and doing well. Women are setting up multi-billion-dollar start-ups that are becoming benchmarks for others.

It is in this context that Business Today’s eagerly-awaited listing of The Most Powerful Women in Business becomes even more relevant. In its 20th edition this year, the BT MPW list is a glittering line-up of women achievers. From the financial sector to manufacturing, entertainment and the pharma sector, women leaders are showing the way, proving to be role models not just for other women, but also men. This year’s list consists of 56 such achievers, with seven debutantes, four comebacks and 40 repeat winners from last year. This year, six achievers move to the MPW Hall of Fame, having been MPW winners seven times. The list also has five global winners, Indians who have made the country proud with their achievements on the world stage. I would like to emphasise that in a country as large as India, this list only serves as a representation of the kind of impact women are making in multiple fields. Even outside this set there will, of course, be several who are making a deep impact in the sectors where they operate. I am sure subsequent editions of the list will see many of them being included.

However, despite so many women achieving so much, India still has work to do to truly see women represented at all levels in business. Typically, the proportion of women diminishes quite dramatically as we move up the corporate hierarchy, with many dropping off due to the pressures of balancing the demands of work and family. Bringing back such talented women to the workforce must be top priority. As Vidya S. writes in her opening essay, studies show that while there is higher representation of women at the lower levels of management, six in 10 firms have less than 20 per cent representation of women in leadership roles. Several MPW winners are playing an active role in changing this and ensuring more women not just enter the workforce, but also move up to leadership positions. That’s why we call them the Most Powerful. More power to them!