Sandhya Devanathan, Jaya Varma Sinha, Ravneet Kaur, and more: Women leaders to watch out for

As the first woman Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Board, Jaya Varma Sinha, 60, has literally stormed a till now male-dominated bastion. But this is nothing new for her. She was also the first woman to be appointed as the Principal Chief Operations Manager of South Eastern Railway.

Sinha, an Indian Railway Traffic Service official, has vast experience in various verticals such as operations, commercial, IT and vigilance in her nearly 35-year career, and she is held in high esteem by her peers and in industry circles.  

Given her exceptional track record, Sinha, who was due to retire in September 2023, has been given a one-year extension. Under her leadership, the Railways, which logged a record revenue of Rs 2.4 lakh crore in 2022-23, is seen to have exceeded Rs 1.5 lakh crore by November-end this year. However, maintaining this robust growth in revenue is a challenge.

She has been working round the clock on various initiatives, including the modernisation of rail infrastructure, roll-out of more Vande Bharat trains as well as pushing up freight revenues that had been languishing in recent years. Completing the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) initiative as well as the bullet train project are also top priorities for the Railways, under Sinha, as it tries to upgrade its infrastructure and get future ready. 

However, managing one of the largest railway networks in the world is not easy. Safety concerns have long marred the national transporter’s reputation, and they’ve come back into the spotlight because of recent mishaps. For Sinha, improving the Indian Railways’ track record on this front will be a key priority and an achievement. 

It’s been a little over two months since Mansi Madan Tripathy assumed the role of Country Chair of Shell India, succeeding Nitin Prasad, who had held the position since 2016. An alumna of the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, and the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, with experience of working on diverse product categories, multifunctional and multicultural teams, channels and business models, Tripathy, in her latest role, will oversee the Shell Group of companies, which she joined in 2012, in India. This will be in addition to her role as VP, Shell Lubricants for Asia-Pacific. Her new role will also see her relocate from Singapore to Delhi. This diverse, international exposure will, no doubt, come in handy in her new role.

Credited with helping Power Finance Corporation, India’s largest NBFC, gain Maharatna status, Parminder Chopra is the first woman to lead it. Her 35-year experience helps as she leads PFC, that has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, into newer avenues with a focus on renewable energy. Chopra has a knack for good performance—she led PFC’s finance division when it registered its highest net profit and net worth, and lowest non-performing assets. As PFC, the largest renewable energy financier increases funding to such projects, the onus is on Chopra to help India achieve the 500-GW renewable energy target by 2030. And going by her track record, that is another milestone she’d like to tick off.

Soft spoken and with a ready smile, 60-year-old Ravneet Kaur was brought in as Chairperson in May 2023 to lead the Competition Commission of India after its previous head Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office in October 2022. In the midst of investigating several big tech firms, and with a number of deals pending approval, Kaur has been instrumental in clearing the logjam at India’s competition watchdog. An IAS officer of the Punjab cadre (1988 batch), Kaur—who has a rich body of experience to draw upon—is also working on notifying the provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023.

Kaur has also organised the BRICS International Cooperation Conference—that is looking to take up issues related to the digital economy. The CCI, under her leadership, is also in the midst of finalising a number of new provisions to strengthen India’s anti-trust frameworks.

What’s more, the competition watchdog has launched a pan-India market study of the cement sector, which industry watchers believe will lead to stricter enforcement action. All this and more has been done in just the first six months of her tenure, and with another four and a half years left, Kaur’s leadership is expected to get the country’s competition regulator in shape to play a much larger role. 

Sandhya Devanathan breached the fort of big tech’s boys’ club in January 2023, after being appointed as VP and Head of Meta India. Since then, Devanathan has been working towards strengthening the creator economy in India through Meta’s various social media platforms, and building partnerships with policymakers in the country.

Devanathan, a graduate of Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, has also been appointed as a Board Observer of Jio Platforms earlier this year.

She joined Meta (earlier called Facebook) in 2016, and has helped build its Singapore and Vietnam businesses, as well as its e-commerce initiatives in Southeast Asia. Before joining big tech, Devanathan had an illustrious career as a banker with Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank. That apart, Devanathan is also recognised for her contributions towards promoting diversity and inclusivity at the workplace. Her varied interests are also apparent in the many advisory and board member roles she holds. Going forward, how she manages Meta’s operations in India will be the story to watch out for.