Forbes Asia Power Businesswomen 2026: Ananya Birla, Mira Kulkarni named

Forbes Asia published its Power Businesswomen 2026 list on Monday, 2 November 2026, naming 20 women business leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region. The list, which is not ranked, includes Ananya Birla, 32, founder of the microfinance lender Svatantra Microfin, and Mira Kulkarni, founder of the Ayurveda-inspired beauty brand Forest Essentials. Other honourees include Nerine Tan, chief executive of Malaysia's Berjaya Corporation, and the chief executive of the Philippines' UnionBank.

Lists like this one are recognitions, not appointments, but they show who is building large businesses and how. The two Indian names point to two very different routes to scale. Birla's company lends small sums to women in villages, many of whom have no access to regular bank credit. Microfinance means very small loans to people who usually find it hard to borrow from banks. A lender with millions of such borrowers touches household incomes across rural India, which is why its growth and its plans to raise money from the public through an IPO matter beyond the company itself.

Kulkarni's story is about building a brand from Indian tradition and taking it abroad. Forest Essentials sells skincare and wellness products based on Ayurvedic ideas. Selling a majority stake to a global group such as Estée Lauder can bring wider distribution and capital, while raising the question of how much of the brand's Indian character survives. Her own answer, that she wants global reach without diluting the brand's roots, is the test the business now faces.

For women in Indian business, the recognition is a reminder that leadership comes in different forms: a founder who started a lender while still a student, and a founder who turned a home-grown brand into a company that a global beauty group agreed to buy into.

Peepals calculation: Svatantra's reported assets under management of about $2.25 billion spread across about 4.3 million borrowers works out to roughly $520 per borrower ($2.25 billion ÷ 4.3 million ≈ $523). An IPO of 30 billion rupees is the same as Rs 3,000 crore. With about 2,300 branches, each branch serves on average about 1,870 borrowers (4.3 million ÷ 2,300 ≈ 1,870). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The listing raises the profile of the honourees and their companies, which can help with hiring, partnerships and, for Svatantra, investor interest ahead of a planned IPO.

Long-term: Recognition of women who lead lenders, consumer brands and conglomerates adds to the visible examples that younger women entrepreneurs can learn from, in India and across Asia.

Who is affected: The honourees and their companies; rural women borrowers who rely on microfinance; Forest Essentials' customers and staff; and women founders looking for role models.

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