Special 
BT MPW 2023 LIVE updates: 'Gender was never a thing for me,' says Madhabi Puri Buch on being first woman chairperson of SEBI BT MPW 2023 LIVE updates: Business Today is hosting its 20th edition of 'The Most Powerful Women in Business' event and awards to honour the undying spirit of women in business.
Nandini Piramal of Piramal Pharma says after Covid-19, we are optimistic about the future despite the slowdown scares. Piramal is bullish about India’s pharma sector. She said: “I think the pharma sector has proven to be a sector that has good jobs, exports and can compete world class… We have to continue to focus on quality.”
In the second session, Womenomics: Driving The $5 Trillion Dream, panelists spoke about how participation of women workers in Indian economy is still one of the lowest when compared to other developed economies.
In the first session of the evening, women business leaders and entrepreneurs spoke about their experience and challenges in setting up their businesses in a volatile time like this. The panel discussion on ‘A View From The Corner Office’, saw Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, Mobikwik, Prabha Narasimhan, MD, Colgate-Palmolive India, Vinati Saraf Mutreja, MD & CEO, Vinati Organics Ltd, and Devita Saraf, Founder, VU Technologies speaking about their personal journeys.
The annual event, honouring women achievers in India, will see prominent women leaders, start-up founders, professionals, filmmakers and visionaries sharing insights. The event, which is being hosted at Mumbai’s Taj Lands End, Mumbai, would see brainstorming sessions with 56 business leaders on various pressing issues ranging from IT issues, changing business dynamics to challenges and hurdles towards building the $5 trillion economy.
The first session will be a panel discussion on ‘A View From The Corner Office’, which see a brainstorming session by Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, Mobikwik, Prabha Narasimhan, MD, Colgate-Palmolive India, Vinati Saraf Mutreja, MD & CEO, Vinati Organics Ltd, and Devita Saraf, Founder, VU Technologies.
The second session, Womenomics: Driving The $5 Trillion Dream, would see top economists and business leaders, such as Ashima Goyal, Member, RBI Monetary Policy Committee, Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe, South Asia, Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO, Edelweiss AMC, Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, National Securities Depository Ltd, and Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life Insurance, discuss about India becoming one of the top economies in the next few years.
The session titled ‘IT’ Women’ will see Rekha Menon, Former Chairperson and senior Managing Director, Accenture India, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India, and Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP & MD, SAP Labs India and Vice Chairperson, NASSCOM, discuss issues related to women in the field of information technology.
Industry veterans Zia Mody, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, AZB & Partners and Kalpana Morparia, Former Chairman, JP Morgan, South and Southeast Asia, will look into the topic ‘Women Mean Business’ and share their views.
On the entertainment side, Zoya Akhtar, whose latest directorial 'The Archies' was released on Netflix on Thursday, will talk about women directors in the movie business in the session titled, 'Creativity Through The Female Lens'.
The end session, ‘Leading From The Front’, will be with the Guest of Honour Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. discussions about the challenges and opportunities for women in the world of work.
After the brainstorming sessions, 56 women achievers will be felicitated for their contributions and achievements in their respective fields. 'The Most Powerful Women in Business' awards were started in 2003. Business Today was the first magazine to compile an annual list of star women achievers in India. The achievers will be felicitated by the Guest of Honour Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch.
Check the latest updates 'The Most Powerful Women in Business' event at BusinessToday.In:
"Gender was never a hindrance," says Madhabi Puri Buch on being first woman chairperson of SEBI.
Talking about success and failures at the box office, Akhtar said that at some stage or other, you will be rejected. "In my industry, you will face rejection. So you need to find ways to survive. You can cry at home, self-help. Just get up and get back on the horse."
Talking about Archies' success, director Zoya Akhtar: "There is a lot of camaraderie in the film industry. There is competition and rivalry, but we have each other's back."
Session: 'Creativity Through The Female Lens' with Zoya Akhtar
Talking about inspiration and role models, Nandini Piramal said: "Infosys founders are my role models as when they retired they gave back to the country in so many ways. They continue to work for the country like the Aadhaar and payment system. It was possible because of Nandan Nilekani."
• Nandini Piramal, Chairperson, Piramal Pharma Ltd
"Flexible working is here to stay. As it gives us a huge opportunity to tap into the talent spread in the remotest areas. Post Covid19, many now think it has worked. But I also feel when your are driving and thriving, you need to be together," said Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP & MD, SAP Labs India and Vice Chairperson, NASSCOM.
"In the tech sector, we are the largest employer of women. It has come about because of the nature of our work. Second, sheer talent shortage earlier. From there, there is a large shift."
The ‘IT’ Women
• Rekha M. Menon, Former Chairperson & Senior Managing Director, Accenture in India
• Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India
• Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP & MD, SAP Labs India and Vice Chairperson, NASSCOM
Publicis Groupe's Anupriya Acharya rued how despite the rise of women participating in higher education, women entering the workforce has gone down. She added, “We are doing our bit… and today our organisation has 41% women.”
On women entrepenuers not getting enough financial support and loans, Edelweiss’ Radhika Gupta said role modelling is key to many things. "When Nykaa lists on the bourses, many women were saying if she can do it, so can we."
She added the mindset will change with more success stories.
"Women workers participation in Indian economy is one of the lowest at 22 per cent. So, if more women come to work it would help India's GDP grow faster and reach the $5 trillion goal much faster," said Ashima Goyal of RBI MPC.
Womenomics: Driving The $5 Trillion Dream
• Ashima Goyal, Member, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee
• Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe, South Asia
• Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO, Edelweiss AMC
• Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, National Securities Depository Ltd
• Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life Insurance
• Moderator: Sourav Majumdar, Editor, Business Today
Devita Saraf, CEO, Vu Group said that the turning point in her career was when she decided to be an entrepreneur and build her own company. She also pointed out the lack of women in the electronics industry.
Ameera Shah of Metropolis Lab shares her experience of building a brand as she faced boardroom battles, the impact of COVID-19 and much more. She said former HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh believed in her work.
Talking about setting up the digital business payment in India, Upasana Taku of MobiKwik said:"My family discouraged me saying that India will never adopt digital payments. It took us four years to get a conviction. We started from my dining table, two laptops and with our small savings. After 3 years, we had a million users, revenue and cash positive, and we were one of the earliest recipients of RBI prepaid wallet licence. Since then, we have been building on."
"One must be clear where your passion and purpose lie. You end up doing the best work when your passion, purpose align," said Prabha Narasimhan of Colgate-Palmolive India.
• Ameera Shah, MD, Metropolis Healthcare
• Upasana Taku, Co-Founder & COO, MobiKwik
• Vinati Saraf Mutreja, MD & CEO, Vinati Organics Ltd
• Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO, Colgate Palmolive India
• Devita Saraf, Chairperson & CEO, Vu Group
• Moderator : Sakshi Batra
Business Today Editor Sourav Majumdar delivers the opening address.
Watch here:
Asha Jadeja Motwani, Venture Capitalist. Philanthropist, congratulated the women entrepreneurs of India.
Copyright©2025 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today
