Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Group Chairperson, Biocon Group
Meet Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran has shattered glass ceilings at every stage of her career, leaving strong footprints in traditionally male-dominated environments. The first woman to become a brew master in India, Kiran used her knowledge of fermentation technologies to build a multi-billion-dollar company, Biocon, which has put the nation on the global biopharmaceuticals map. Her name in India is synonymous with the biotechnology industry and the success that women entrepreneurs can achieve.
Over the past year, she has added more honors, titles, and awards to a long list of achievements, including the 2023 Ban Ki-moon Award for Women Empowerment; 2024 Jamsetji Tata Award from the Indian Society for Quality; BRICS- CCI Business Excellence Award – Entrepreneur of the Year; and Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in Business Award. 2025 has started where 2024 left off for Kiran as she has already been named as a Fellow Member at the Indian National Science Academy and among the Forbes 50 Over 50 list.
“From the outset, I was driven with the purpose to harness the power of science to create meaningful benefits for society. I was inspired to work in drug development because I saw first-hand the stark inequities in global healthcare as life-saving medicines were often out of reach for those who needed them most. This was unacceptable to me.”