Forbes's latest rankings of Asia's most powerful businesswomen has placed Nita Ambani of Reliance Industries at the top spot, closely followed by Arundhati Bhattacharya of SBI at the second spot. Forbes's "Asia 50 Power Businesswomen 2016" acknowledges the new paths Indian women are carving for themselves in spite of gender inequalities. The list ranks a total of 8 Indians including Ambani and Bhattacharya. Other women enlisted hail from diverse backgrounds such as banking, bio-tech, data analytics, textiles, pharma, and wellness and beauty. Here's what Forbes has to say on these powerful Indian achievers. Nita Ambani, Director Reliance Industries. "In a country where billionaire wives tend to remain in the shadow of their husbands, Nita’s rising profile in the Reliance empire is unusual and earns her a debut spot on our Power Businesswomen ranking this year"

Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank

"In a bid to retain female staff, she launched iWork@home, which allows employees to work from home for a year. In addition, executives can take children under the age of 3 on business trips, with a caregiver, at the bank’s expense."

Vandana Luthra, Founder and Vice-chairman, VLCC

"Luthra pioneered the concept of a beauty and wellness chain in India. She opened her center in New Delhi in 1989, offering weight management as well as hair and skin treatments, and now has 313 centers in 11 countries in Asia, the Middle East and East Africa. Her VLCC Personal Care business sells skin care and hair care products through 72,000 outlets across India."