Top 10 Women entrepreneurs in India

Shalini Passi

A towering personality in the field of arts, Shalini Passi is an avid art collector, artist, and philanthropist. The magnate has an exemplary collection, which includes the work of renowned contemporary artists like Anita Dube, Sheba Chhachhi, Zarina Hashmi, and Atul Dodiya. She has worked relentlessly hard to encourage and support the new artists through her foundation, the Shalini Passi Art Foundation.

Moreover, the renowned women entrepreneur has created an online platform- MASH, which explores the intersections of art, architecture, craft, design, and fashion in an accessible and engaging format through informative essays, a podcast, and interviews with top-notch artists and creatives from India and the world.

Molly Chakraborty

Molly is an ingenious woman entrepreneur and co-founder of Trinamix, a US-based company, which facilitates the digital transformation of business processes in organizations on an integrated supply chain. She loves to encourage a culture of collaboration and innovation in the company through a plethora of channels to foster an echo system of creativity in the organization. The entrepreneur leads by design and has spearheaded ventures in emerging fields harnessing cutting edge technology for the future of smart supply chain and I4.0. Moreover, she is a gold medalist in Electrical Engineering. As far as her prospects are concerned for Trinamix, she envisions becoming a market leader who will shape the industry with emerging technologies.

Adv. Chandni Kapadia

Working as a dynamic and independent brand consultant for a multitude of international brands, Adv. Chandni Kapadia has carved a niche in the business world with her charismatic performance. Being a phenomenal leader, Ms. Chandni loves to empower amidst various challenges. Moreover, she is also successfully running an educational institution where she has played a major role in its growth whilst focusing on International Collaboration & Promotional strategies, and managerial decisions.

She was conferred with the World Women Leadership Congress Award in Feb 2019 for her immense contribution to the fashion industry. She was recently the recipient of the Award of Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All in July 2020 by Women Economic Forum, All Ladies League. She has also been recently awarded the Black Swan Award for Women Empowerment by AsiaOne in support of the UN Global Compact Network & Government of India.

Shweta Pathak

Following the path of her dreams, Shweta Pathak took a paradigm leap in her career from IT to raising a Luxury Jewellery Brand- Aakarshan gems and Jewelry. It is because of the heirloom collection of natural gemstones and fancy color diamonds. To get expertise in this field, she pursued Gemology from Jaishree Panjikar, Diamond Grading, and various other courses in the field of gems and jewelry from GIA India. She explored various national and international markets by visiting mines, trading centers, national and International Shows to create an exquisite and luxurious brand.

Aakarshan refers to the divine power of attraction. With Aakarshan, Ms. Shewta renders her great focus to Luxury elements; hence, each piece is designed with fine workmanship and creativity around gemstone strings, gemstones, natural fancy colored diamonds, and natural white colorless diamonds.

Chahat Aggarwal

Following her entrepreneurial instincts, Chahat Aggarwal bypassed all the challenges in the trajectory and emerged as an ace business tycoon. She is the Founder and CEO of Impact Study Biz. Impact Study Biz is an indigenous amalgamation of Business and Brand Strategy. The maestro helps organizations to help and grow their business through renowned experts and research backed strategies, which help them unlock their true potential.

Perseverance is the path for accomplishing joy and success for her. Chahat’s positivity and “can-do attitude”, helps her tread to some of the most complex projects and endeavors.

She has held the titles of writer, film director, trainer, designer, management consultant, branding expert, marketer and strategist.

Dr. Nagma Abbasi

Empowering the domain of Biotechnology and Healthcare, Dr. Nagma Abbasi is the founder and CEO of NextGen Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. For more than a decade, she has been working with esteemed Research Institutes and leading Multinational companies in the Life Sciences / Biotech industry across various verticals like Product management, customer segmentation, brand management, and strategic marketing.

Catering to the untapped opportunities in the industry, Dr. Nagma Abbasi incepted NextGen Life Sciences in 2014 with an aim to bridge the gap between the needs and pains of researchers of the Life Sciences / Biotech Industry and assist the scientists to gain insight on the recent innovations and technologies, assuring a sound knowledge of the subject matter.

Sonica Aron

Taking the HR advisory firm to the next level of growth and success, Sonica Aron is a true empowering woman leader of the times. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Marching Sheep, an HR advisory firm specializing in Strategic HR advisory, Diversity and inclusion interventions, employee health and wellness and capability building.

 Sonica has worked with companies like PepsiCo, Vodafone, Roche Diagnostics and ICI paints. She was the first lady HR Manager stationed at a factory in Upcountry UP. A mother of two, she decided to set up Marching Sheep in 2013 with a vision of delivering interventions that truly move the needle. As a Human Resource and D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) specialist with an experience of 20 years, both in the  industry and consulting, she has designed one of the most evolved ‘Diversity and Inclusion’   frameworks in India with exclusive programs like - Women@Work, Unleash and Diversity@Work! 

Agatha Sushila Dias

Hailing from a small village known as Madar Ajmer situated in Rajasthan, Agatha Sushila Dias is selflessly serving the community. She learned the English language and began her mission with the needy people of Andheri slums. Later, she served Madhya Pradesh villages and Bangalore slums through the convent of the Holy Spirit Missionaries. In the year 1996, she incepted an organization called Amcha Ghar in a place known as Uttan in Bhayander. Amcha Ghar organization provides English Medium Education, Residence, Medical, Recreation, Food & Spiritual facilities in a homely atmosphere to the girls till they are independent. In short, it works for the holistic development of orphan-destitute girls at the residential home. At present, 25 beneficiaries stay at Amcha Ghar, which is registered under J.J Act (Juvenile Justice Act) & also has a sanction order from CWC (Child Welfare Committee) for the beneficiaries to stay with Amcha Ghar.

Sunaina Khanna

The Managing Director of Methods Apparel Consultancy India Pvt Ltd, Sunaina Khanna is an epitome of vision, intellect, and perseverance. Methods Apparel Consultancy is one of the leading consulting companies working exclusively to improve the operational efficiencies of Apparel Manufacturers across the globe. She has been associated with the company since 2004, ever since they started their Indian operations.

Talking about her accomplishments, Sunaina has been awarded the Kaushal Acharya 2020 award for Master Trainer by the ministry of skills for her exceptional contribution to the Skilling domain for executing the highest number of TOTs.

Shelly Luthra

The notable entrepreneur of the times, Shelly returned to India 4 years ago and started ornatejewels.com with a vision of bringing fine high-end quality yet affordable silver jewelry to the Indian market. They, at ornate, manufacture, design, and produce each piece using the purest silver. They make jewelry, which is meant to be worn daily and not to be stored in lockers. They are known as the most budget Luxurious jewelry brand. The entrepreneur started this with just a 1000usd in her pocket. They are a self-funded company and on the growth path. Online shopping has seen a sudden surge after the corona pandemic, and though there are many challenges to run a startup brand, they are overcoming them one by one.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.