BT MPW 2023 honours Prabha Narasimhan, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Falguni Nayar, Upasana Taku, Zoya Akhtar and other star performers in business

Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO, Colgate-Palmolive India, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India, Falguni Nayar, Founder & CEO, Nykaa, Nandini Piramal, Chairperson, Piramal Pharma Ltd, Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life Insurance, and Zoya Akhtar, director & co-founder, Tiger Baby, were among the women achievers honoured by Guest of Honour Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch at the 20th edition of Business Today’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ event in Mumbai.

Mumbai’s Taj Lands End witnessed an eclectic mix of 56 trailblazing women from fields as varied as pharma, entertainment, start-ups, finance, and manufacturing being felicitated.  

Six women, who are seven-time winners entered BT’s prestigious MPW Hall of Fame, making way for new entrants to come in next year. The list of achievers has seven debutantes, four comebacks, and 40 repeat winners from last year. This year’s list also has five global winners – Indians who have made the country proud with their achievements on the world stage.

The event is also a much-anticipated accompaniment to the special magazine issue of the same name, which was unveiled on the stage. Started way back in 2003, Business Today was the first magazine to champion this glittering annual list of star women achievers in India.

One of the highlights of the evening was the session ‘Leading From The Front’, where Buch, the first woman chairperson of SEBI, said simply parachuting someone at the top and doing nothing at the bottom will not to work for India. “Don't do tokenism by putting more women on the board. Let's see the disclosure on what percentage of your manpower cost goes to women. It will take care of everything,” she said about Indian organisations.  

Kalli Purie, vice-chairperson, India Today Group, who delivered the vote of thanks, said: The rise of women power is not just in urban centres and in gatherings such as this, but it has percolated down to rural areas. To me, this churn is the most exciting and interesting that these women are independent, fierce and ambitious. I am really excited at the juncture of history we are in at the moment. What better place to discuss this than at the 20th edition of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Business list which honours 56 leaders from across so many fields. 

The evening kicked off with a power-packed panel ‘A View From The Corner Office’ comprising 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, and Devita Saraf, Chairperson & CEO, Vu Group. They discussed the challenges and opportunities for women in the world of work.    

It proceeded with several interesting discussions with Ashima Goyal, Member, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee, Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, National Securities Depository Ltd, Rekha M. Menon, Former Chairperson & Senior Managing Director, Accenture in India, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India, Zia Mody, Co–Founder & Managing Partner, AZB & Partners and Kalpana Morparia, Former Chairman, J. P. Morgan, South and Southeast Asia, and several other eminent forces to reckon with from the field of business. 

Standalone sessions with Nandini Piramal, Chairperson, Piramal Pharma, where she spoke on ‘Journey Through Leadership & Innovation’, and Zoya Akhtar, filmmaker & co-founder, Tiger Baby, who spoke about ‘Creativity Through The Female Lens’ also drew much applause. 

Started way back in 2003, Business Today was the first magazine to champion this glittering annual list of star women achievers in India.