State Bank of India chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and ICICI Bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar figure in the top 100 powerful women list by Forbes.
Bhattacharya moved up six spots since last year to No. 30 while Kochhar moved up eight notches to the 35{+t}{+h} spot in the coveted list which is topped by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Indian-origin Indra Nooyi, chief of PepsiCo and Cisco Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior also make the list.
In the top 10 are: US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (2), philanthropist Melinda Gates (3), Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (4), GM CEO Mary Barra (5), IMF Chief Christine Lagarde (6), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (7), Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (8), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (9) and US First Lady Michelle Obama (10).
Bhattacharya (59) oversees over two lakh staff members across 16,000 branches and services 225 million customers at the country’s largest bank SBI, which has assets worth $400 billion and offices spread over 36 countries.
The SBI chief is pioneering many initiatives in getting a modern outlook at the bank, moving towards technology banking and bad loan recovery mechanisms.
“Recognising the multiple roles of working women, Bhattacharya pioneered a two-year sabbatical policy for female employees taking maternity leave or give extended care to family,” Forbes said.
Forbes added that the 53-year-old ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO has been credited with “leading a remarkable transformation” at India’s largest private sector bank, which experienced major setbacks after the 2008 financial crisis.