The ten richest women in India
Twenty of India's 209 billionaires are women. Most inherited what they hold; two built it. This is the top ten by Forbes' live valuations, and the drop from first to second is the steepest on any list of its kind in the country.
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Published 21 September 2026
01 Savitri Jindal & family
Net worth $39.8bn ₹381,134 crore
The richest woman in Asia and, by a wide margin, in India. The O. P. Jindal Group's steel and power businesses passed to her after her husband's death in 2005; her four sons run the operating companies while the family holding sits at $39.8bn. She has also served as a Haryana MLA.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
02 Rekha Jhunjhunwala
Net worth $9.1bn ₹86,830 crore
She inherited the portfolio of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the investor often described as India's Warren Buffett, when he died in 2022. $9.1bn is held almost entirely in listed Indian shares — Titan above all — which makes hers the most visible and most volatile fortune on this list.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
03 Renuka Jagtiani
Net worth $6.0bn ₹57,526 crore
Landmark Group runs supermarkets, fashion and home stores across the Gulf and India from a base in Dubai. She joined in 1993, became chair after her husband's death in 2023, and now oversees the whole group. $6.0bn at 72.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
04 Falguni Nayar
Net worth $5.3bn ₹50,601 crore
The only self-made woman near the top of this list. She spent nearly twenty years in investment banking, left as managing director of Kotak at 49, and founded the beauty retailer Nykaa. Its 2021 listing made her, briefly, India's richest self-made woman. $5.3bn.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
05 Smita Crishna Godrej
Net worth $5.0bn ₹48,079 crore
One of the heirs to a group founded in 1897 that makes everything from locks and hair dye to industrial engineering. Her $5.0bn comes from the consumer arm following the 2024 split that divided the Godrej empire between two branches of the family.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
06 Kumud Bajaj
Net worth $4.1bn ₹38,991 crore
Widow of Rahul Bajaj, who turned a scooter maker into Bajaj Auto and then into a financial services group that is now worth more than the vehicles business. The family holding is $4.1bn; Bajaj Finance is among India's most valuable lenders.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
07 Alpana Dangi
Net worth $3.6bn ₹34,457 crore
At 53 the youngest woman on this list. The fortune traces to the cement business her late husband built, and is held largely through the family's investment vehicles rather than in an operating company she runs. $3.6bn.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
08 Leena Tewari
Net worth $3.5bn ₹33,383 crore
USV Pharmaceuticals is private, profitable and largely absent from the business pages — it makes diabetes and cardiovascular drugs and was founded by her grandfather in 1961 as a joint venture with Revlon. She has chaired it since 2011. $3.5bn.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
09 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Net worth $3.3bn ₹31,805 crore
She started Biocon in a garage in Bangalore in 1978 with ₹10,000, after being turned down for brewmaster jobs because she was a woman. It became India's largest biopharmaceutical company. $3.3bn at 73, and she has pledged to give most of it away.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
10 Vinod Rai Gupta
Net worth $3.2bn ₹30,742 crore
Havells makes switchgear, wiring and fans — unglamorous products in enormous volume. She is chair of a company her late husband bought in 1958 for ₹10,000, and at 81 is the oldest woman on this list. $3.2bn.
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · as of 21 September 2026
Start with the boring part
Inherited or built, every fortune here sits in assets that compound. A fixed deposit is the slowest version of the same idea.
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