Forbes names Arundhati Bhattacharya among 100 most powerful women

Bhattacharya moves up six spots to the 30th rank

Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of the country’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has been named on Forbes’ annual 100 ‘Most Powerful Women’ list. Bhattacharya has moved up six spots since last year and has been ranked 30th on the coveted list.

Bhattacharya took charge as the chairman of the bank in October 2013 and oversees 2,20,000 staff members in 16,000 branches which services 225 million customers with offices spread over 36 countries.

She was appointed chairman  when the bank was going through a rough patch because of a slowing economy and rising cases of corporate debt restructuring. Under her leadership, SBI undertook various initiatives in technology banking.

Last week, the bank had reported a 23 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 3,742 crore for the quarter ended March, higher than the Street had estimated. There was a four-fold increase in treasury gains, coupled with less of slippage to the bad loans category.

The Forbes’ 12th annual list of the 100 most influential women feature extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary chief executive officers, politicians, celebrities, activists and philanthropists who are transforming the world and have been ranked by wealth, media presence and overall impact.