Nooyi, 5 other Indians in FT's 50 top biz women list

Indra Nooyi (Rank 1)

PepsiCo's India-born chief executive officer Indra Nooyi has topped the Financial Times' ranking of the Top 50 Women in World Business for the second year running, while five Indians have made to the coveted list this year.

While Nooyi held her position for the second time in a row, two Indian woman executives stormed their way into the list, expanding the number of Indians in the list to five (not including Nooyi who is an US citizen) from three last year.

A seven-member jury, which did not have an Indian on it, finalised the list.

The FT said the top 50 was selected by an expert jury, whose choice was based on information on the executives' performance and durability. Much of the information was supplied by Egon Zehnder International, an executive recruitment group.

Lionel Barber, editor of FT, said: "We are delighted to see so many of the world's most successful business women gather at the 2010 FT Women at the Top conference.

The FT champions the increased presence of women on the boards of companies, and continues to provide news and analysis about the achievements of high-performing women in the global corporate world."

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Chhanda Kochhar (Rank 11)

One of the two fresh Indian faces on the list is Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive of ICICI Bank.

Despite Kochhar's first-time in the list, she topped among the Indians to appear in it.

Kochhar also heads the corporate centre of ICICI Bank.

Kochhar has consistently figured in Fortune's list of 'Most Powerful Women in Business' since 2005.

In 2009, she debuted at number 20 in the Forbes 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women list'.

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Shikha Sharma (Rank 48)

The other first timer is Shikha Sharma, managing director and chief executive of Axis Bank.

Sharma worked with the ICICI group for 28 years. Sharma is credited for the bank's growth in personal financial services.

In 2009, Sharma's take home was in excess of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) a year.

Click on NEXT for the names of the other three business women. . .

Vinita Bali (Rank 21)

Vinita Bali is chief executive of Britannia Industries.

She believes innovation will drive growth.

Under her guidance, her company attempted to identify changing consumer habits and launching new products.

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Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Rank 39)

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the chairman and managing director of Biocon.

She started Biocon in 1978 and led its evolution from an industrial enzymes manufacturing company to a fully integrated bio-pharmaceutical company with a well-balanced business portfolio of products and a research focus on diabetes, oncology and auto-immune diseases.

She also established two subsidiaries: Syngene and Clinigene.

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Shobhana Bhartia (Rank 45)

Shobhana Bhartia is the chairwoman of HT Media. The three executives appeared in the list for the second time in a row.

She looks after editorial as well as financial aspects, and raised Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) through a public equity launch of the HT Media group in September 2005

She has recently taken charge as the Pro Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

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Andrea Jung (Rank 2)

FT said a range of factors was used to assess the candidates: biographical data; size, scope and complexity of the company (including turnover and number of employees, number of sectors and countries of operation); and competitive landscape.

In the top 50 list, Nooyi was followed by Andrea Jung of Avon Products.

Jung is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Avon Products, Inc. She has been on the company's board of directors since 1998.

Jung first came to Avon in 1994 as the company's president in its product marketing group.

Jung is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University.

In 2009, Forbes ranked her the 25th most powerful woman.

While CEO of Avon Products in 2009, Jung received a total compensation of $6,997,015.

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Guler Sabanci (Rank 3)

Sabancı is a third-generation female member of the renowned Sabancı family and the chairperson of the family-controlled Sabancı Holding.

In 2006 Sabancı received the 'Woman of Distinction Award' from the international relations group Daughters of Atat rk.

In 2009 Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Elena Salgado honoured her with the Spanish Order of Civil Merit, 'Encomienda de Numero'.

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Irene Rosenfeld (Rank 4)

Rosenfeld cites her childhood experience as a school basketball captain, when she regularly led her team to victory, as a reason for her success says the FT report.

The chief executive of Kraft since 2006, she became chairman after Altria Group spun off the food maker in March 2007.

In an industry that is prone to fluctuations, Rosenfeld's marketing acumen has kept her ahead of rivals, says FT.

Rosenfeld has nearly 3 decades of experience in the food and beverage industry.

Rosenfeld's leadership helped make Kraft Foods one of the leading food and beverage companies in the world. She joined Kraft Foods in 1981.

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Dong Mingzhu (Rank 5)

"I never miss. I never admit mistakes and I am always correct," Dong Mingzhu once said in an interview.

She heads China's largest air-conditioning manufacturer, Gree Electric Appliances. She was responsible for building Gree to its present day status with several innovative measures.

In 2006 she was ranked among the 'magnificent 10' economic leaders of China.

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Ursula Burns (Rank 6)

Ursula M Burns, CEO of Xerox, is the first black lady to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Burns was raised by a single mother in the Baruch Houses, a New York city housing project. Her mother used to run a home day care centre.

The 51-year-old Burns started her career as an engineering intern in 1980. Burns first worked for Xerox in 1980 as a summer intern and joined a year later after her master's degree.

In April 2007, Burns was named president of Xerox, expanding her leadership to include the company's IT organisation, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate marketing and global accounts.

Burns ranked 10th in the Fortune list of 50 Most Powerful Women in America. Her salary package for 2008 stood at $887,500, but total compensation stood at a whopping $6,003,126.

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Yoshiko Shinohara (Rank 7)

Yoshiko Shinohara founded Tempstaff in 1973, one of the largest temporary staffing agencies in Japan. She learnt about staffing services when in Australia 35 years ago.

"I founded Tempstaff because I knew that women would soon become more active in the Japanese workforce, and I wanted to create opportunities for them," Shinohara says.

"Working provides us with an opportunity to broaden our knowledge; indeed, all aspects of work - including success and failure - provide seeds for personal growth," she says.

In October 2008, Tempstaff merged with another Japanese group, People Staff, to create Temp Holdings.

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Ellen Kullman (Rank 8)

CEO and President of DuPont, the 53-year-old Ellen Kullman gets a salary of $4.4 million. Forbes named her the world's ninth most powerful businesswoman.

Ellen is the 19th executive to lead the company in more than 205 years of DuPont history. She became president on October 1, 2008, and CEO on January 1, 2009.

Ellen began her career at DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the medical imaging business.

DuPont is currently the world's second largest chemical company in terms of market capitalisation and fourth in revenue terms.

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Chairwoman of Nine Dragons Paper, China's largest paperboard producer, was richer than both Oprah Winfrey and JK Rowling, worth an estimated $2.4 billion in 2007, according to Forbes magazine.

Cheung, who became the first woman in 2006 to top the annual rich list compiled by Hunrun Report, can afford anything she wants, but insists she only wears designer brands because of her position.

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Patricia A Woertz (Rank 10)

Patricia Ann Woertz became CEO of Archer Daniels Midland in 2006, beating out 4 other competitors.

In 2009, with a rank of 93, Woertz was the top-ranking woman on the Fortune 500's list of top CEOs.

Also in 2009, Forbes ranked Woertz as the 26th most powerful woman in the world.

While CEO of Archer Daniels Midland in 2009, Woertz earned a total compensation of $14,689,022.