Most Powerful Women in Business 2012

PREETHA REDDY
(Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals)

She says many hospitals in India have followed us on accreditation from Joint Commission International, US. "This has been immensely satisfying as a pioneering step taken by Apollo is once again impacting the standards of health care across India."

KALPANA MORPARIA
(CEO, JPMorgan India)

"The big turning point in my career was when I joined ICICI Ltd in 1975. That led to the complete transformation of an individual who, until then, had no purpose to life and had to be pushed through school and even college, be it my graduation or my training in law."

SHOBHANA BHARTIA
(Chairperson and Editorial Director, Hindustan Times Group)

"The media was the one business, of the many my family was involved with, which really fascinated me. From an early age, I would come up with ideas for our newspaper Hindustan Times. I would bounce these off my father, K.K. Birla. He realised my passion. But to convince him that I could lead a newspaper took a lot of hard work."

ZIA MODY
(Managing Partner, AZB & Partners)

"For me, re-calibrating myself from a counsel into an M&A (mergers and acquisitions) lawyer was also a personal breakthrough. I did miss all the excitement of the courtroom in the beginning. Winning a case in court is the biggest adrenalin boost one can get."

RENU SUD KARNAD
(HDFC Managing Director)

Biggest Challenge: Growing HDFC while keeping its culture intact

RITU KUMAR
(Fashion designer)

Biggest Challenge: Balancing the preservation of India's traditional art and fabrics with the effervescent desires of today's youth

DEBJANI GHOSH
(Intel's South Asia Managing Director, Sales and Marketing)

Biggest Challenge: Coming to terms with the fact that the market is changing dramatically

NEHA KIRPAL
(Founder and director of the India Art Fair)

Biggest Challenge: To deliver something in a sustainable manner in terms of both quality and value

LEENA NAIR
(Executive Director, HR, Hindustan Unilever)

Biggest Challenge: Would love to inspire a million women so they can have it all

RENUKA RAMNATH
(Founder, Multiples Alternate Asset Management)

Biggest Challenge: A responsibility towards the ecosystem. Our values should reflect that

TANYA DUBASH
[Executive Director & President (Marketing), Godrej Group]

Biggest Challenge: Need to put our minds together to provide strong leadership in both business and politics

SANGEETA PENDURKAR
(Managing Director, Kellogg's India)

Biggest Challenge: To build the right team and capabilities to deliver Kellogg's growth agenda

ARCHANA HINGORANI
(CEO, IL&FS Investment Managers)

Biggest Challenge: Finding the right people to approach for advice, or to bounce off ideas

ROOPA KUDVA
(MD and CEO, Crisil)
 
Biggest Challenge: To live up to the expectation that Crisil will be a sane voice and do what is right

SCHAUNA CHAUHAN SALUJA
(CEO, Parle Agro)

Biggest Challenge: Nothing really, as long as you stay focused, doing what you do best, and never stop learning.

AISHA DE SEQUEIRA
(MD and Head, Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley India)

Biggest Challenge: Being a woman and being in business makes it vital to balance the two. I strive to find that balance

ARATHI KRISHNA
(Joint MD, Sundram Fasteners)

Biggest Challenge: Making Sundram Fasteners future ready

VINITA BALI
(MD, Britannia Industries)

Biggest Challenge: To do things on time and within the budget allocated

KIRTHIGA REDDY
(Head, Facebook's India operations)

Biggest Challenge: Helping nextgeneration leaders hone their leadership skills

ZARIN DARUWALA
(Head of wholesale banking, ICICI Bank Ltd)

Biggest Challenge: More than a challenge, figuring in this list helps create goodwill and makes you more relevant in the world of business

JYOTSNA SURI
(Chairperson and Managing Director, Bharat Hotels)

Biggest Challenge: To find the strength to constantly outdo myself

EKTA KAPOOR
(Joint MD, Balaji Telefilms)

Biggest challenge: Balancing personal and work life, and being accepted beyond my professional successes

ABANTI SANKARANARAYANAN
(MD, Diageo India)

Biggest Challenge: Gender does not matter. To get to any position what counts are your achievements

VINITA GUPTA
(CEO, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc)

Biggest Challenge: To bring in the changes required that will continue to set the company apart from the competition, and to attain a good work-life balance

ARUNA JAYANTHI
(India CEO, Capgemini)

Biggest Challenge: Getting every individual in Capgemini to think about and work on the organisation's goals

LYNN DE SOUZA
(Chairman and CEO of Lintas Media Group)

Biggest Challenge: Inspiring women to strive to achieve big things in business and other spheres

CHIKI SARKAR
(Publisher, Penguin Books India)

Biggest Challenge: The publishing industry is all about finding talent and getting things out into the world

NITA AMBANI

Nita Ambani took one more definitive step in her journey from being the wife of the richest man in India, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, to being his business partner, in late 2011, when she was nominated to the board of EIH Ltd. She also heads a clutch of other initiatives, including the Reliance Foundation, the Dhirubhai Ambani International School and the Mumbai Indians IPL team.

MEHER PUDUMJEE
(Thermax Chairperson)

Biggest Challenge: To bring more professional women into the capital goods sector