India’s most powerful women: Nita Ambani, Gita Gopinath, Sudha Murty and more; check who tops the list
Fortune India's 2025 ranking features influential women leaders across various sectors. Top figures include Nita Ambani, Gita Gopinath and Sudha Murty, among others.
Fortune India's 2025 ranking of the Most Powerful Women in India is out. It includes extraordinary women leaders driving change across business, government, media, and social sectors.
Technology & IT Services
Key leaders in the Technology & IT Services include Ogilvy Global CEO Devika Bulchandani (Rank 35), Chanel CEO Leena Nair (Rank 16) and HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra (Rank 4).
Media & Entertainment
Key Leaders in the Media & Entertainment sector include Bollywood actresses Alia Bhatt (Rank 40), Deepika Padukone (Rank 39) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Rank 37).
The list also includes Jyoti Deshmukh (Rank 32), President Media & Content Business - RIL and Monika Shergill (Rank 44), VP Content - Netflix India. Netflix CEO Bela Bajaria ranks 5th.
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
The Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals sector includes the Reddy Sisters, the head of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise. Shobhana Kamineni, Sangita Reddy, Preetha Reddy and Suneeta Reddy jointly hold Rank 3.
The list also includes Vibha Padalkar (Rank 30), MD & CEO - HDFC Life, Lupin CEO Vinita Gupta (Rank 18), Bharat Biotech MD Suchitra Ella (Rank 36) and the Executive Director of Serum Institute of India, Natasha Poonawalla (Rank 49).
Finance & Banking
The Finance & Banking sector is topped by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Rank 1). Rajya Sabha Member Sudha Murty (Rank 6) and Adani Foundation Chairperson Priti G Adani (Rank 19) also make it to the list.
Gita Gopinath, the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), holds Rank 9.
Other Key Leaders
Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, holds Rank 2. Other key leaders include Isha Ambani (Rank 8), Director, Reliance Retail Ventures; Malika Srinivasan (Rank 22), Chairman & MD, TAFE; and Nandini Piramal (Rank 33), Non-Executive Director, Piramal Enterprises.
Rank 25 is held by Prabha Narasimhan, Managing Director & CEO - Colgate-Palmolive India. Nyrika Holkar, Executive Director - Godrej & Boyce, holds Rank 24. Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson - India Today Group, holds Rank 10.
Check the Top 50 most powerful women in India, according to Fortune India:
| RANK | NAME | AFFILIATION |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Devina Mehra | First Global |
| 49 | Natasha Poonawalla | Serum Institute of India |
| 48 | Anamika Khanna | AK-OK |
| 47 | Ghazal Alagh | Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd (Mamaearth) |
| 46 | Kaviya Kalanithi Maran | Sun TV Network and Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| 45 | Lakshmi Venu | TVS Holdings |
| 44 | Monika Shergill | Netflix India |
| 43 | Prativa Mohapatra | Adobe India |
| 42 | Ananya Birla | Svatantra Microfin and Birla Cosmetics |
| 41 | Nivruti Rai | Invest India |
| 40 | Alia Bhatt | N/A |
| 39 | Deepika Padukone | N/A |
| 38 | Falguni Nayar | Nykaa |
| 37 | Priyanka Chopra Jonas | Purple Pebble Pictures |
| 36 | Suchitra Ella | Bharat Biotech |
| 35 | Devika Bulchandani | Ogilvy |
| 34 | Dipali Goenka | Welspun Living |
| 33 | Nandini Piramal | Piramal Enterprises and Piramal Pharma |
| 32 | Jyoti Deshpande | RIL |
| 31 | Vaishali Nigam Sinha | Renew and Sustainability |
| 30 | Vibha Padalkar | HDFC Life |
| 29 | Smriti Irani | BJP |
| 28 | Sindhu Gangadharan | SAP Labs India and Nasscom |
| 27 | Sandhya Devanathan | Meta |
| 26 | Daisy Chittilapilly | Cisco India and Saarc |
| 25 | Prabha Narasimhan | Colgate-Palmolive India |
| 24 | Nyrika Holkar | Godrej & Boyce |
| 23 | Neerja Birla | Mpower |
| 22 | Mallika Srinivasan | TAFE |
| 21 | Pallavi Shroff | Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas |
| 20 | Avarna Jain | Saregama |
| 19 | Priti G Adani | Adani Foundation |
| 18 | Vinita Gupta | Lupin Ltd |
| 17 | Sangita Jindal | JSW Foundation |
| 16 | Leena Nair | Chanel |
| 15 | Swati Piramal | Piramal Group |
| 14 | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | Biocon and Biocon Biologics |
| 13 | Shobhana Bhartia | HT Media |
| 12 | Arundhati Bhattacharya | Salesforce India and South Asia |
| 11 | Zia J. Mody | AZB & Partners |
| 10 | Kalli Purie | India Today Group |
| 9 | Gita Gopinath | IMF |
| 8 | Isha Ambani | Reliance Retail Ventures |
| 7 | Savitri Jindal | Hisar (Haryana) |
| 6 | Sudha Murty | Rajya Sabha |
| 5 | Bela Bajaria | Netflix |
| 4 | Roshni Nadar Malhotra | HCLTech |
| 3 | Reddy Sisters | Apollo Hospitals Enterprise |
| 2 | Nita Ambani | Reliance Foundation |
| 1 | Nirmala Sitharaman | Government of India |
About the Author
Sounak Mukhopadhyay covers trending news, sports and entertainment for LiveMint. His reporting focuses on fast-moving stories, box office performance, digital culture and major cricket developments. He combines real-time updates with clear context for everyday readers. <br><br> Sounak brings newsroom experience across breaking news, explainers and long-form features. He has a strong emphasis on accuracy, verification and responsible storytelling. His work tracks audience behaviour, celebrity influence and the business of sport and cinema. He helps readers understand why a story matters beyond the headline. <br><br> Sounak has contributed to widely read digital publications. He continues to build a body of journalism shaped by consistency, speed and editorial clarity. He is particularly interested in the intersection of media, popular culture and public conversation in contemporary India. <br><br> At LiveMint, he writes daily coverage as well as analytical pieces that interpret numbers, trends and cultural moments in accessible language. His approach prioritises factual depth, balanced framing and reader trust. The reporting aligns with modern newsroom standards of transparency and credibility. <br><br> Outside daily reporting, he explores storytelling across formats including podcasts, filmmaking and narrative non-fiction. Through his journalism, Sounak aims to document the rhythms of modern entertainment and sports while maintaining rigorous editorial integrity. <br><br> Sounak continues to develop audience-focused journalism that connects speed with substance in a rapidly-changing information environment. His work seeks clarity, trust and lasting public value in every story he reports.