Only Three Women In Forbes List Of India's Richest People 2019

Forbes released the list of top 100 richest people in India this October and only three women managed to earn a spot in the same. For 12th year in the row, Indian business magnate Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani topped the list with Savitri Jindal, the wealthiest female occupying the 20th place. The other two women in the list are Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Leena Tewari.

Key Takeaways:

• Forbes is an American business magazine that releases the list ranking the wealthiest Indians every year.
• This year, like the last 12 years, Reliance CEO Mukesh Ambani captured the top spot.
• Only three women could make it to the list of 100 richest people in India.
• Savitri Jindal, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Leena Tiwari are the three women who are ranked at 20th, 54th and 71st place respectively.

Not a single woman could make it to the top 10 richest people of the country this year.

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Savitri Jindal- Jindal Group

Savitri Jindal is the chairperson of Jindal Group, whose interests include steel, power, cement, and infrastructure. The net worth for Savitri Jindal as mentioned in the Forbes list is $5.8 Billion. Upon the death of her husband O.P. Jindal in the year 2005 in a helicopter crash, group companies were divided among his four sons, who now run them independently. According to Forbes, “The biggest assets of the group are overseen by her Mumbai-based son Sajjan Jindal, who runs JSW Steel, among much else. Jindal's younger son Naveen's Jindal Power & Steel, once a high-flier, is weighed down by $5.3 billion in debt.”

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw- India's Richest Self-Made Woman

Founder of India's largest bio-pharmaceutical firm in 1978, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw at present, is India's richest self-made woman. The biopharmaceutical firm Biocon based in Bangalore, India, has “successfully forayed into the lucrative US biosimilars market, catching the attention of investors.” In fact, Biocon became the first company to gain approval from the USFDA for two different biosimilars of drugs used in certain cancer treatments.

Read More: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Elected MIT Board's Full-Term Member

She is also a philanthropist and her philanthropic initiative, The Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre aims at creating a sustainable and affordable cancer care model.  Shaw said in a statement, “My philanthropic efforts are largely directed towards making a difference to global healthcare especially in the developing world. I am particularly concerned about the unbearable financial burden that debilitating diseases like cancer impose on patients in poor countries.” As of October 9 2019, her net worth stands at $2.38 Billion.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's Biocon became the first company to gain approval from the USFDA for two different biosimilars of drugs used in certain cancer treatments.

Leena Tiwari

Chairperson of USV India, Leena Tewari's net worth according to Forbes is $1.92 Billion. The company was set up in 1961 by her late father Vithal Gandhi. “USV specialises in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs, with a portfolio that spans biosimilar drugs, injectables, and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The $449 million (revenue) company is run by her husband, Prashant, an Indian Institute of Technology grad and mechanical engineer from Cornell.”

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