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4 Indians top Fortune's most powerful women list

September 14, 2015 17:59 IST

Chanda Kochhar has been ranked as the most powerful woman in the Asia Pacific region by fortune magazine.

Chanda Kochhar, most powerful businesswoman in India. Photograph, courtesy: ICICI Bank
 
 

Take a look at the four Indians in Fortune's list of most powerful women in the Asia Pacific region...

Chanda Kochhar 
Rank: 1

Chanda Kochhar, CEO of ICICI bank, has moved up from second position last year.

Fortune has hailed Kochhar for building ICICI Bank into ‘India’s largest and most profitable private sector lender’.

Fortune notes that most of the women in the most powerful list are self-made businesswomen.

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is ranked second. Photograph, courtesy: SBI
 
 

Arundhati Bhattacharya
Rank: 2

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is ranked second in the list.

Arundhati Bhattacharya  has the distinction of being the first woman to head the 209-year-old state Bank of India.

Bhattacharya has played a crucial role in ‘modernising the organisation, both in terms of more female-friendly work practices and digital-age technologies,’ says Fortune.

Nishi Vasudeva. Photograph, courtesy: HPCL
 
 

Nishi Vasudeva
Rank: 5

Nishi Vasudeva is the first lady to head an Indian oil company. Vasudeva is ranked fifth in the list.

She was instrumental in turning around the fortune of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. The company made a ‘record profit of $245 million last year, up 37 per cent, despite a global oil glut,’ says Fortune.

Image: Shikha Sharma. Photograph, courtesy: Axis Bank
 
 

Shikha Sharma
Rank: 9

Shikha Sharma, Axis Bank's managing director and chief executive is ranked ninth in the list.

Appreciating Sharma’s efforts, Fortune said, ‘Her steady hand helped Axis’ profit increase 18.3 per cent, to around $1.1 billion, in the year ending in March.