Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs of India in 2014

"The whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be”, and really, there is a long list of women who have met their dreams by working really hard, leaving all men behind. Women’s day has just passed upon us and the day was motivating enough to appreciate some of the courageous women for their entrepreneur skills. Women are nowhere behind men whether it be in the field of business or technology and India itself is a good example where women are giving a good competition to all the capable men around with their business skills.

Here are 10 women entrepreneurs of India in 2014, have a look!

1) Indra Nooyi

Current position:  CFO, Pepsico

Age: 56 Years Old

The current chairman and CFO of the second largest food and beverage business, PepsiCo., Indra Nooyi was Born in Chennai. Indra did her Bachelor’s in Science from Madras Christian College in 1974 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in 1976. 

  

She started her career as a product manager at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell. Indra worked really hard and soon joined PepsiCo in 1994 after which she was named president and CFO in 2001.

2) Naina Lal Kidwai

Current position:  Group General Manager & Country Head – HSBC, India

Age: 55 Years Old

Starting her career with ANZ Grindlays, she is presently, serving as a non-executive director on the board of Nestle SA. Kidwai is also global advisor at Harvard Business School. She did her Bachelor's in Economics from Delhi University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. It is interesting to find that she was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School.

3) Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Current position: CMD, Biocon 

Age: 59 Years Old

Born in Bangalore, Shaw completed her Bachelors in Zoology from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University and later did her post-graduation in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University. Kiran is the founder Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Biocon Limited. Today Biocon under Shaw’s leadership has established itself as a leading player in biomedicine research with a focus on diabetes and oncology.

Starting her career initially, she worked as a trainee brewer in Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne and as a trainee maltster at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia.

4) Chanda Kochar

Current position: MD & CEO – ICICI Bank

Age: 51 years old

Born in Rajasthan, Chanda did her Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. She has been praised for her excellent business skills, and interestingly, she is married to Deepak Kochhar, a wind energy entrepreneur and her Business schoolmate.

5) Indu Jain

Position: Chairperson (former), Times Group

Age: 76 years old

Jain used to be the chairperson of India’s largest and most powerful media house – The Times Group and has been known as a strong votary of women’s rights and women entrepreneurship, Indu contributed immensely to the growth of Times group. Now, her two sons Samir and Vineet are running the company.

Her capabilities are not just limited to the Times Group but Indu Jain is also a founder President of the Ladies wing of FICCI (FLO).

What many of you might not know about this powerful lady is the fact that she addressed the United Nations in 2000 at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, a speech in which she stressed the need for oneness among faiths and went on to chair a special session of the conference.

6)  Simone Tata

Current position: Chairperson (Former), Lakme Chairperson (Present),Trent Limited

Receiving her education in Switzerland, Simone is a French by birth. She is the wife of Naval Homey Jahangir Tata and step mother to Ratan Tata. She is better known as ‘Cosmetic Czarina of India’. It would not be wrong to say that it was actually Simone who changed a small subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills into the largest cosmetic brand in India (Lakme).

7. Neelam Dhawan

Current position:  MD, HP-India

Here comes the managing director of HP, India. She is one of the popular Indian ladies who are doing pretty well while being affiliated with the IT industry. At the start of her career she yearned to be a part of major players in the FMCG space such as Asian Paints and Hindustan Lever. Before joining HP, India as Managing Director (MD), Neelam was Managing Director (MD) of Microsoft, India.

8. Priya Paul

Current position: Chairperson, Apeejay Park Hotels

Starting her career at the age of 22, she joined her family business as a marketing manager at the Park Hotel, Delhi. After the death of Surrendra Paul, she succeeded him in 1990 as the Chairperson of the Hospitality Division of the Apeejay Surendra Group.

9)Ekta Kapoor

Current position: JMD & Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms

She is one of the leading icons in the field of Indian entertainment who has been able to earn much of the fame and respect for her direction and production skills. With some memorable drama serials on her credit, she has been doing a wonderful job by producing great Bollywood movies too. Ekta has created a niche for herself in TV serial and film production. She can easily be termed as the most successful female producer of entertainment world.

10) Shahnaz Hussain

Current position: CEO, Shahnaz Herbals Inc.

Indian cosmetics are known worldwide and when it comes to the herbal treatments, Shahnaz Hussain is the biggest name in herbal cosmetics industry in India. Currently, the Shahnaz Husain Group has over 400 franchise clinics across the world covering over 138 countries.

So you see that women all over the world are doing a wonderful job and it seems like a myth where people used to consider women as weak and dependent souls.

Share your views about it,

Wishes,