Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE and Aruna Jayanthi of Capgemini India follow Kochhar in the second and third place, respectively.

In the Fortune list of 50 most powerful businesswomen, there are six new entrants. While 19 have moved up their places, 17 have witnessed a decline in their rankings.

"... despite surprises and upsets, what hasn't changed is the overwhelming influence women have on India Inc," Fortune India Editor Dibyendra Nath Mukerjea said.

The six new entrants this year includes Prabha Parameswaran, MD, Colgate-Palmolive India; Aisha De Sequeira, MD, Morgan Stanley India Investment Banking; Debjani Ghosh, MD, Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia; Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Country Head, Diageo India; Anjali Bansal, Managing Partner, Spencer Stuart and Asha Gupta, MD, Tupperware India.

The other women who figure in the top 10 of the Fortune India's 50 most powerful women in business are - Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO, Axis Bank; Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries; Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson, HT Media; Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospital Enterprises; Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners; Chitra Ramkrishna, Joint Managing Director, NSE; and Roopa Kudva, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL.

"Fortune India's Most Powerful Women in Business is the only currency that not just lists but ranks the most influential businesswomen in the country," Fortune India National Advertising Director Anita Mazumdar said.

Others in the top 15 of the Fortune India's 50 most powerful women in business, include -- Kirthiga Reddy, India Head, Facebook; Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, HSBC India; Harshbeena Zaveri, MD and President, NRB Bearings; Amrita Patel, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board and Kalpana Morparia, CEO, JP Morgan India.

Kavery Kalanithi remains highest paid business woman: Fortune

(PTI) Kavery Kalanithi of Sun TV Group has retained her position as country's top paid business woman although her pay package declined to Rs 57 crore in 2012, according to Fortune magazine.

Kavery Kalanithi, Executive Director of Sun TV Network and wife of Kalanithi Maran, pay packet declined to Rs 57 crore in 2012 from around Rs 72 crore (USD 13.09 million) last year.

In the Fortune list of top 10 most paid business women, Peninsula Land chairperson Urvi A Piramal bagged the second rank with an annual pay package of Rs 7.3 crore.

Apollo Hospital Enterprises Managing Director Preetha Reddy scored the third slot with an annual pay packet of Rs 6.9 crore, followed by Vinita Singhania, MD of JK Laksmi Cement (Rs 5.9 crore) and Vinita Bali, MD, Britannia Industries (Rs 5.7 crore).

According to Fortune, the annual salaries of highest-paid women have reduced from last year.

HDFC Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad with a pay package of Rs 5.1 crore and Suneeta Reddy Joint MD Apollo Hospitals Rs 5 crore cornered the sixth and seventh position, respectively.

ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar whose annual pay package is at Rs 4.24 crore scored eighth on the chart.

Interestingly, Kochhar has been named as the most powerful woman in Indian business for the second consecutive by Fortune.

Besides, TAFE Chairperson Mallika Srinivasan and Capgemini India CEO Aruna Jayanthi are at second and third place, respectively, in the most powerful women category.