Renu Sud Karnad, 

The MD of India’s largest home loan company has managed to ensure that in a tough year, the financial institution’s loan book has grown by 23%. As of June, non-performing assets were at 0.79%, down from 0.83% the year before. She has also added HDFC Red—a dotcom that allows buyers to search for homes across 18 major cities. Karnad, who has degrees in law and economics, and attended a fellowship programme at Princeton University, is also on the board of Lafarge India, Bosch India, Akzo Nobel, and East India Hotels. She shuttles between offices in Delhi and Mumbai and travels so much that she jokes that “Jet Airways is afloat because of me”.