ICICI's Chanda Kochhar named most powerful Indian businesswoman

NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has been named as the most powerful businesswoman in India for the third consecutive year by Fortune Magazine.

Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank and Aruna Jayanthi of Capgemini India have taken the second and third place in the Fortune list of 50 most powerful businesswomen ranking for 2013.

Preetha Reddy, Managing Director of Apollo Hospital Enterprises, and Mallika Srinivasan, CEO of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), have secured the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

"Whether it's heading the Indian operations of an energy multinational or the world's largest coffee chain, women are getting more visible in India Inc," the magazine said.

In the Fortune list of 50 most powerful businesswomen, there are six new entrants -- Yasmine Hilton, Chairperson Shell India; Vanitha Naraynan, MD, IBM India; Anita Dongre, Founder, Anita Dongre; N Bhuvaneswari, Vice Chairman and MD, Heritage Foods; Ashu Suyash, CEO, L&T Investment Management and Awani Saglani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks India.

The other women who figure in the top 10 of the Fortune India's 50 most powerful businesswomen are: Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson, HT Media; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and MD, Biocon; Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners; Vinita Bali, MD, Britannia Industries and Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC India.

Others in the list included Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms, Chitra Ramkrishna of National Stock Exchange and Renu Sood Karnad of HDFC.

Fortune India's issued India's '50 Most Powerful Women in Business', for the first time in 2011.