Nishi Vasudeva , 

In the 19 months she has been at the helm of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Vasudeva, 59, has bettered the good work of her predecessors. HPCL’s profits at Rs 2,533 crore in FY15 on sales of Rs 2,17,016 crore bettered last year’s record profit of Rs 1,734 crore, and market capitalisation went up by 87% in one year, adding Rs 11,500 crore to its market value. Despite all this, HPCL continues to fare poorly when compared with its nearest competitor Bharat Petroleum, which edged it out a decade ago and continues to perform better. Vasudeva hasn’t been able to play catch up, and is running out of time as she retires next year.