At the 19th iteration of BT MPW, chief guest Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs, honoured the top female business achievers.

Nita Ambani of Reliance Foundation, Kaku Nakhate of Bank of America, Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh, veteran banker-turned-tech CEO Arundhati Bhattacharya, Sangita Reddy of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra and SUGAR Cosmetics Co-founder & CEO Vineeta Singh are among the women achievers honored by Union Minister Smriti Irani at the 19th edition of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The roster of 55 trailblazers reflected both continuity and change, with nine debutantes, 31 repeat winners from last year, and seven comebacks from previous years taking home the awards from industries as diverse as textiles, pharma, entertainment, start-ups, finance, and manufacturing.

Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson of the Piramal Group, received the awards on behalf of Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, Isha Ambani, Director of Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail, and Nandini Piramal, Chairperson of Piramal Pharma.

Three women, Nita Ambani of Reliance Foundation, Kaku Nakhate of Bank of America, and Priya Nair of Unilever, are seven-time winners and will join BT’s prestigious MPW Hall of Fame next year, making room for new entrants.

The lecture by actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs, on ‘Leveraging India’s Better Half for Economic and Social Growth’ was one of the evening’s highlights. “Power is having the audacity to decide because it is best for you, without regard for how others will judge you.” Every woman who understands that there is a consequence to being abrasive is powerful. A powerful woman makes her own choices and does not apologize for doing so.

Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, of India Today Group, who delivered the vote of thanks, said, “This award is in its 20th year. We started this way back in 2003 when we had 30 awards to give. This year, we have 55. To me, this is an amazing trajectory of how women in business have moved in this country. The Business Today Most Powerful Women represents how India is moving and we need to support each other to make this happen because the more women are in power, the more women can come into power.”