My father’s journey taught me that leadership isn’t defined by titles or milestones: Alisha Moopen, deputy MD, Aster DM Healthcare

Building institutions from scratch requires extraordinary courage of entrepreneurship, but making those already big ones better requires courage to take some bold decisions, said Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director, Aster DM Healthcare India.

“To all the next-generation business leaders here, I hope ours will be remembered for choosing the latter,” Moopen said in a symbolic moment as she received the NextGen Business Leader (Female) award from Preetha Reddy, jury chair and executive vice-chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises. Aster emerged as the second-largest healthcare chain following its merger with Blackstone-backed Quality Care India, and today operates about 40 hospitals across 27 cities, supported by nearly 50,000 healthcare professionals.

Following in the footsteps of her father and Aster founder Azad Moopen, Alisha is now steering one of India’s most ambitious expansion drives in the healthcare sector, as the Bengaluru-based company scales up capacity, strengthens clinical capabilities and extends its footprint across the country.


“Growing up, I had the privilege of witnessing my father, Dr Azad Moopen, build Aster with a vision and determination…His journey taught me that leadership isn’t defined by titles or milestones, but by resilience, purpose and the courage to keep building for the long term,” said Alisha. “What makes this recognition meaningful is its emphasis on the importance of family businesses in creating long-term impact.”