Candere, the luxury online jewellery brand by Kalyan Jewellers, in partnership with Hurun India, released the 2nd edition of the Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List 2026 on July 30, 2026. The list recognises 117 women achievers across 12 categories, up from 97 women in 9 categories in the inaugural edition released in 2025. The honourees collectively represent a combined valuation of ₹39 lakh crore, with 84% identified as self-made leaders.
What Is the Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List?
The Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List is an annual ranking that celebrates women leaders making a significant impact across India’s economy and society. It is a collaboration between Candere, the luxury online jewellery brand owned by Kalyan Jewellers, and Hurun India, the Indian arm of the Hurun Report, a research and luxury publishing group headquartered in Shanghai and founded by Rupert Hoogewerf in 1999. Hurun India, led by Founder and Chief Researcher Anas Rahman Junaid, is best known for compiling wealth rankings, entrepreneurship reports, and leadership lists across India and globally.
The inaugural edition was released in June 2025 in Mumbai, featuring 97 women across 9 categories rooted in five pillars: wealth creation, value creation, philanthropy, startups, and culture. The 2026 edition, the second in the series, expanded both the number of honourees and the breadth of categories to capture the widening spectrum of women’s leadership in India.
Key Findings at a Glance
The 2026 edition reveals several important data points about the state of women’s leadership in India:
- 117 women were recognised, a 21% year-on-year increase from 97 in 2025.
- 98 of 117 honourees (84%) are self-made, outnumbering inheritors by more than five to one.
- The combined valuation of their businesses and organisations stands at ₹39 lakh crore, comparable to the size of Finland’s economy.
- The list spans seven decades, with the youngest honouree at 19 and the oldest at 86.
- The 12 category leaders together possess 464 years of active professional experience.
- 28 women (24%) belong to the startup category, the largest single group, followed by 19 (16%) in value creation and 18 (15%) in wealth creation.
- The Olympic and Paralympic Medallists category is the largest individual category with 20 women featured.
These figures reflect a significant shift in India’s entrepreneurial landscape. As Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher at Hurun India, noted, the ratio of self-made women to inheritors (five to one) signals that leadership in India is increasingly earned rather than handed down.
The 12 Categories and Their Leaders
The 2026 edition introduced 12 categories, up from 9 in 2025. The categories are rooted in five pillars: wealth creation, value creation, impact, culture, and startups. Each category is led by a prominent figure from that domain:
| Category | Leader | Organisation | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wealth Multipliers | Roshni Nadar Malhotra (44) | HCLTech | Net worth of ₹2.84 lakh crore |
| Professional CEOs | Priya Nair (54) | Hindustan Unilever | Company valued at ₹5.06 lakh crore |
| Veterans | Preetha Reddy (68) and Suneeta Reddy (67) | Apollo Hospitals | Joint leadership, group valuation over ₹1.21 lakh crore |
| Indian Fashion and Lifestyle | Meena Bindra (83) | BIBA | Annual revenue of ₹758 crore |
| Heartland Founders | Rajni Bector (86) | Bectors Food Specialities | Company valued at ₹5,650 crore |
| New Economy | Vaishali Nigam Sinha (56) | ReNew Power | Company valued at ₹22,230 crore |
| Social Change Makers | Tushara Shankar (46) | Lupin (CSR) | Sustainability score of 50.3, highest in the category |
| Olympic and Paralympic Medallists | Avani Lekhara (24) | Para-shooter | Three Paralympic medals (two gold, one bronze) |
| Authors | Sudha Murty (75) | Author and philanthropist | Highest readership impact score of 417 |
| Social Media Influencers | Ananya Birla (32) | Entrepreneur | 276.8% year-on-year Instagram follower growth |
| Independent Journalists | Faye D’Souza (44) | Digital journalist | 2.238 million Instagram followers |
| Startup Founders | Shreya Mishra (37) | Startup entrepreneur | Representing India’s new-age venture ecosystem |
The categories reflect a deliberate expansion beyond corporate leadership. The 2026 edition introduced categories such as Olympic and Paralympic Medallists, Independent Journalists, Social Media Influencers, and Heartland Founders to capture the many ways women are contributing to India’s growth story, from Tier-II and Tier-III city businesses to digital media and elite sport.
Top 10 Women Leaders Across All Categories
The overall leaderboard ranks women across all 12 categories based on a composite assessment. The top 10 for 2026 are:
| Rank | Name | Category | Notable Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meena Bindra | Fashion and Lifestyle | Founder of BIBA, 83 years old, started the brand from her Delhi home in 1988 |
| 2 | Tushara Shankar | Social Change Makers | Head of CSR at Lupin, sustainability score of 50.3 |
| 3 | Rajni Bector | Heartland Founders | Founder of Bectors Food Specialities, 86 years old, the oldest on the list |
| 4 | Vaishali Nigam Sinha | New Economy | Co-founder of ReNew Power, valued at ₹22,230 crore |
| 5 | Suneeta Reddy and Preetha Reddy | Veterans | Apollo Hospitals, combined group valuation over ₹1.21 lakh crore |
| 6 | Avani Lekhara | Olympic and Paralympic Medallists | 24 years old, youngest in the top 10, three Paralympic medals |
| 7 | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | Wealth Multipliers / Veterans | Founder of Biocon, most followed honouree on LinkedIn with over 1 million followers |
| 8 | Nisaba Godrej | Professional CEOs | Godrej Consumer Products |
| 9 | Deepa Malik | Olympic and Paralympic Medallists | Paralympian and 2016 silver medallist |
| 10 | Barkha Dutt | Independent Journalists | Founder of Mojo Story |
What stands out in this list is its range. An 83-year-old fashion entrepreneur and a 24-year-old para-shooter occupy the same leaderboard, a reflection of how the definition of leadership has broadened beyond age, sector, and conventional markers of success.
Avani Lekhara: The Youngest in the Top 10
Avani Lekhara, at 24 years old, is the youngest woman to feature in the top 10 of the overall leaderboard, ranking at No. 6. She also tops the Olympic and Paralympic Medallists category with three Paralympic medals, making her India’s most decorated woman Paralympian.
Born on November 8, 2001, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Lekhara took up shooting as part of her rehabilitation after a car accident in 2012 left her with a spinal cord injury. She went on to win gold in the women’s 10m air rifle standing event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal. She also won bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions event at the same Games, making her the first Indian female Paralympian to win two medals in a single edition. At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, she defended her 10m air rifle standing title, securing her second consecutive gold and becoming the first Indian woman to win three Paralympic medals.
Her inclusion in the top 10 alongside business leaders and billionaires underscores the report’s emphasis on diverse forms of leadership. As Sanjay Raghuraman, Managing Director of Candere, noted, the list does not ask women to fit one definition of leadership; it recognises the many forms it takes.
Age, Experience, and the Generational Span
The 2026 list spans seven decades of achievement. The youngest honouree is Sheetal Devi, a 19-year-old para-archer, while the oldest is Rajni Bector, the 86-year-old founder of Bectors Food Specialities (also known as Cremica). The average age of those featured is 48 years.
Among the 12 category leaders, the combined professional experience totals 464 years. Manju D. Gupta of Lupin contributes 58 years of experience, while fashion designer Ritu Kumar brings 57 years. These figures illustrate the depth of sustained professional contribution behind the recognition.
The youngest category leaders include Sheetal Devi (19, Olympic and Paralympic Medallists), Priyanka Sharma (33, Independent Journalists), Rithika Mohan (33, New Economy), Savi Sharma (33, Authors), Masaba Gupta (36, Fashion and Lifestyle), Shreya Mishra (37, Startup Founders), Nishtha Gupta (40, Social Change Makers), and Kanika Gupta Shori (41, Startup Founders). The oldest category leaders include Rajni Bector (86), Meena Bindra (83), Manju D. Gupta (82), and Bina Modi (81, Veterans).
This wide generational spread shows that women’s leadership in India is not confined to any particular age group or career stage. It spans seasoned veterans with decades of experience and young achievers who have made their mark before turning 40.
First Edition vs. Second Edition: How the List Has Grown
The 2025 inaugural edition set the baseline for what the Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List aims to achieve:
| Parameter | 2025 Edition (1st) | 2026 Edition (2nd) |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Honourees | 97 | 117 |
| Categories | 9 | 12 |
| Year-on-Year Growth | Baseline | 21% increase in honourees |
| Pillars | Wealth, Value, Philanthropy, Startups, Culture | Same five pillars, expanded categories |
The 2025 edition was topped by Shanti Ekambaram, Deputy Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, in the Professional CEOs category. Radha Vembu, co-founder of Zoho Corporation, led the Wealth Multipliers segment. Financial services was the most represented sector with 23 women leaders, followed by consumer goods with 18.
In the 2026 edition, the list not only grew in size but also in scope. New categories such as Heartland Founders (recognising businesses started in Tier-II, Tier-III cities and rural India), Olympic and Paralympic Medallists, Independent Journalists, and Social Media Influencers were introduced to broaden the definition of leadership. The average age dropped slightly, the geographic spread widened, and sectors such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, deep tech, clean energy, climate technology, and health technology were explicitly represented for the first time.
Key Takeaways
- The 2nd edition of the Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List 2026 was released on July 30, 2026, recognising 117 women across 12 categories, a 21% increase from 97 women in the 2025 inaugural edition.
- Meena Bindra, founder of BIBA, topped the overall leaderboard. She started the brand from her home in Delhi in 1988, and BIBA now reports annual revenue of ₹758 crore.
- Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCLTech, leads the Wealth Multipliers category with a net worth of ₹2.84 lakh crore. She is the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India.
- Avani Lekhara, a 24-year-old para-shooter, is the youngest woman in the top 10 overall leaderboard (ranked No. 6) and the most decorated Indian woman Paralympian with three Paralympic medals (two gold, one bronze).
- 84% of the 117 honourees (98 women) are self-made, outnumbering inheritors by more than five to one, signalling that leadership in India is increasingly earned rather than inherited.
- The 12 category leaders possess a combined 464 years of active professional experience, with Manju D. Gupta (Lupin) contributing 58 years and Ritu Kumar contributing 57 years.
- The list spans seven decades, from 19-year-old para-archer Sheetal Devi to 86-year-old entrepreneur Rajni Bector, founder of Bectors Food Specialities.
