Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs, honored the best female business performers during the 19th edition of the BT MPW.

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Nita Ambani of the Reliance Foundation, Kaku Nakhate of Bank of America, Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh, veteran banker-turned-tech CEO Arundhati Bhattacharya, Sangita Reddy of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, and SUGAR Cosmetics Co-founder & CEO Vineeta Singh were among the women achievers honored by Union Minister Smriti Iran

The roster of 55 trailblazers showed both continuity and change, with nine debutantes, 31 repeat winners from last year, and seven comebacks from previous years taking home the prizes from industries as diverse as textiles, pharma, entertainment, start-ups, banking, and manufacturing.

Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson of the Piramal Group, accepted the prizes on behalf of Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, Isha Ambani, Director of Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail, and Nandini Piramal, Chairwoman of Piramal Pharma.

Three seven-time winners, Nita Ambani of Reliance Foundation, Kaku Nakhate of Bank of America, and Priya Nair of Unilever, have entered BT’s renowned MPW Hall of Fame, leaving room for new candidates next year.

The talk by actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs, on “Leveraging India’s Better Half for Economic and Social Growth” was one of the evening’s highlights.

The vote of thanks was offered by Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson of the India Today Group “This award is now in its twentieth year. We began in this manner in 2003 when we had 30 awards to present. We have 55 this year. This is a great trend for women in business in this country, in my opinion. The list of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women illustrates how India is evolving, and we must all work together to make this happen because the more women in power, the more women can rise to power.”

“When you have the audacity to make a decision because it is best for you without regard for how others will evaluate you, you have power. Every woman who understands that there is a cost to being aggressive is a powerful woman. A powerful woman is one who makes her own decisions and does not apologize for doing so.”

The evening began with an agenda-setting discussion with Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor of Harvard Business School, on “Leadership’s Female Quotient” at Mumbai’s St Regis Hotel.

It was followed by several interesting discussions with Zia Mody, Co-founder & Managing Partner, AZB & Partners, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and CEO, Salesforce, India, Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Group, Nandita Das, Film Maker & Actor, and several other eminent figures from business, sports, and entertainment who discussed the challenges women face in the workplace and how to overcome them.

The evening began with an agenda-setting discussion with Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor of Harvard Business School, on “Leadership’s Female Quotient” at Mumbai’s St Regis Hotel.

It was followed by several engaging discussions with Zia Mody, Co-founder & Managing Partner, AZB & Partners, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and CEO, Salesforce, India, Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Group, Nandita Das, Film Maker & Actress, and several more distinguished figures.

The CEO of HCL Corporation and Chairwoman of HCL Technology, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, spoke about “Business and Society: Marrying the Two,” while Masaba Gupta of House of Masaba spoke about “Starry Stripes. Fashion and Celeb Fusion.”

India’s budding startup scene was also well-represented. Vineeta Singh, co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics, addressed hot problems in the space in a session titled “Women on the Pitch: Shifting Dealscape.” A panel discussion featuring Meena Ganesh, Co-founder & Chairperson, Portea Medical, and Ameera Shah, MD, Metropolis Healthcare discussed ‘The Entrepreneurial Itch‘ as more Indians try their hand at starting their own businesses. ‘Coupling Success. Team Work,’ said Ghazal and Varun Alagh of D2C brand Mamaearth.

“Trailblazers: Cricket’s New Icons” featured Indian women cricketers Jemimah Rodrigues and Harleen Deol, as well as former Indian cricketer Jhulan Goswami and Indian cricket team coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar.

Suman Mishra, CEO of Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, Ashima Goyal, Member of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee, Jyoti Deshpande, CEO of Viacom18 Media, and Daisy Chittilapilly, President of Cisco India and SAARC, moderated a panel discussion on ‘[email protected] Glass Ceilings.’

Business Today was the first publication to advocate this magnificent yearly list of star women achievers in India, which began in 2003. The event is a much-awaited follow-up to the special magazine issue of the same name, which was released a few weeks ago.