Roshni Nadar remains richest Indian woman

HCL Technologies’ Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra has retained her position as the richest woman in India, with a 54 percent jump in her networth to Rs 84,330 crore in 2021. Beauty-focused brand Nykaa’s Founder Falguni Nayar has emerged as the richest self-made woman with a networth of Rs 57,520 crore.

Nayar saw a 963 percent increase in her wealth during the year and is also the second richest woman overall. Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has moved down one rank to be the third richest woman in the country with a wealth of Rs 29,030 crore, witnessing a 21 percent decline.

The list of 100 women accounts for only Indian women, who are actively managing their businesses or are self-made. The cumulative wealth of these 100 women has increased 53 percent in a year to Rs 4.16 lakh crore in 2021 from Rs 2.72 lakh crore in 2020, contributing 2 percent of India’s nominal GDP.

The highest number of entrants in the list are from Delhi-NCR at 25, followed by Mumbai (21) and Hyderabad (12). Pharmaceuticals led with 12 entrants, followed by healthcare at 11 and consumer goods with nine women in the top 100 richest women in India.

Kanika Tekriwal of Bhopal-based Jetsetgo is the youngest on the list with a 50 percent increase in wealth at Rs 420 crore. The list also includes three professional managers led by Indra Nooyi, who was associated with Pepsico with a fortune of Rs 5,040 crore, followed by Renu Sud Karnad of mortgage lender HDFC at Rs 870 crore and Shanti Ekambaram of Kotak Mahindra Bank at Rs 320 crore.