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"

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman and Managing Director, SBI

"Bhattacharya is facing her most challenging test yet with the State Bank of India, the country’s biggest. Mounting bad loans, which stood at $11 billion in December, caused net profit to plunge more than 60% to $190 million in a recent quarter."

Ambiga Dhiraj, CEO, Mu Sigma

"In February Dhiraj became the first female boss of an Indian-owned tech unicorn when she took over as CEO of Mu Sigma, a provider of data-analytics services, from husband Dhiraj Rajaram, who founded the firm in 2004. With estimated revenue of $250 million, it’s valued at $1.5 billion."